The Road Not Taken
by BloodyNib
Summary: Katherine lies dying but other than in the series, Elijah learns about it in time and decides to do something. Is he able to save her life or does she again take matters into her own hands? Starts around 5x11, but then takes its own course.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a story I simply had to write, because well… it's Kalijah and I can't believe that Klaus knew Katherine was dying but Elijah didn't. Anyway, I'm studying English Literature in Germany and I try to improve my skills during writing. So if you find any mistakes (both grammar and OOC) please let me know.**

 **Oh, and of course I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of its characters, otherwise there would have been a lot more Kalijah.**

* * *

Elijah took a deep breath. The witches in New Orleans were wreaking havoc and his siblings were nowhere to be found. Of course. Niklaus loved to make a mess, but refused to clean up after everything burned to the ground and Rebekah's interests lied somewhere else. So it was left to him to establish order once again. Witches, a pregnant werewolf, a willful human fraction; it was enough to keep him occupied for the next fifty years at least. A Salvatore brother in his front yard was the least he needed now.

Elijah sighed, adjusted his collar and tie and stepped out. Stefan Salvatore was not a vampire who would be discouraged by ignoring him, so Elijah would be dealing shortly with him. Time was valuable in this town and he doubted that Stefan would have anything important for him to say. But then, otherwise he would not seek the older vampire out. "Stefan. It has been a while", Elijah welcomed him, frost creeping into his tone. "I doubt you just came to be in New Orleans and thought it would be rude not to step by and say hello, so… What business brings you here?" What drama had come to Mystic Falls this time that required his help? Or was some vampire bitten by a werewolf and they needed Niklaus's blood? Again.

Stefan shoved his hands into his pockets and squared his shoulders. "I'm here to see you. I'm sure you have your reasons why you didn't came to Mystic Falls to say good-bye, but… well, I thought I'd give it a shot. I know, I know, Katherine has done some terrible things, but… she's just a girl that wanted to live. That much I now know about her. And I think it would mean a lot to her to see you one last time, even if she would never admit it. But…"

Elijah raised a hand to stop Stefan. He needed one or two seconds to proceed. One last time? A good-bye? "What happened to Katerina?" He had thought her safe, after he left her back in Willoughby. She became Katherine Pierce, after all. A woman, who always had a plan to survive. If she did not manage it, who would?

Stefan looked at him dumbfounded and scratched his neck. "You, ahem… So you don't know? Well, Klaus was there and Rebekah, too, so I thought, you would have known about her."

"Known what, Stefan?" Patience was a virtue but right now Elijah could not care less. If something happened to Katerina because he had not been there… And why on earth did Niklaus know more than he did? One last time… Did Niklaus wanted to use his last chance of torturing her? "What happened to Katerina? And what did Niklaus do to her?" If his brother had hurt her, tortured her … Elijah did not want to think about the consequences.

"Katherine and Elena fought and Elena forced her to take the cure. After Silas sucked her dry because of her blood which then held the cure, she started aging rapidly. As if the last five centuries were catching up with her. Klaus was in Mystic Falls, presumably not to give her a friendly hug but he… got distracted to say the least." Stefan grimaced.

"And you left while Niklaus is still in town?" It took all his will to keep Elijah calm. That would explain why his little brother refused to take his phone calls. But there was more important information. Katerina was dying. Stefan would not be here if she had found a solution to her problem. "I assume vampire blood does not help change her status. What about a witch?" There _had_ to be something they could do. Katerina Petrova, the girl who managed to outrun his brother for half a millennium simply could not die from old age. It seemed wrong.

"I don't think Klaus is still there. And there is someone with her who would give her live for Katherine. Damon didn't exactly play nice." Stefan shook his head and raised helplessly his shoulders. "It's not like Katherine has a great amount of supporters in Mystic Falls. Or elsewhere. There would be no witch to help her, even if there was some sort of spell. I'm only here because she needs you. Your forgiveness. Whatever. She called your name in her sleep, but she won't talk to me about it. Or to Nadia. I only want her to die in peace, you know?"

Elijah swallowed around the lump in his throat, but forced his face to remain blank. Katerina was dying. He had connections to various witches and warlocks around the globe; there had to be someone who knew a solution. And a plan started to take shape in his head.

Stefan seemed to misinterpret his silence. "Look, I just wanted to tell you. For her. Make up your mind. I don't think Katherine has much time left." He turned to leave, but Elijah called him back.

"Do you love her?" Elijah looked at his ring as if Stefan's answer would not matter. Indeed, it did not. Even after five hundred years, his own feeling had not changed. It did not matter how Stefan felt about Katerina or how she felt towards this boy. Elijah had to help her if he wanted to save that sweet peasant girl from back then.

Stefan smiled the tiniest bit and shrugged. "Not as I did in 1864. But I can understand her, I saw the girl she had to be when she was a human the first time. She ran for so long, why should she die in agony?" And with this words he turned around. Elijah never saw him leave. He had some things to arrange.

* * *

"Do you have to stare? You'll notice when I'm dead, trust me. Stopped heart, cool skin… you've seen enough bodies over the last centuries to know that sort of things." Katerina rolled her eyes, annoyed. And bored. Since her last heart attack Nadia wanted to keep her in the hospital where any doctor was at arm's reach. Sadly enough there was no McDreamy to keep her company. At the boarding house she could have had at least some quarrels with Damon or Elena; it was always fun to irritate her doppelgänger. But lately, her daughter was a little to overprotective for her taste.

"Well, you wouldn't have to if you would simply use the spell. Nobody would know who you are. You would be free, even from Klaus", Nadia tried again. She couldn't understand why her mother stayed stubborn. A new body traded for a live of peace and freedom. What was wrong about that?

Katerina coughed and closed her eyes. "Accept it, Nadia. And don't come up with all this abandoning-you-thing. It's my decision and you really are old enough to take care for yourself. You don't need mummy to pick out your clothes. By the way, those are my boots."

"They are cute. And they match my-" Nadia trailed of when she noticed the man standing in the room. He wasn't a physician; those seldom wore suits during work. She did know his face from somewhere but she was sure to never have him met in person.

Katerina opened her eyes when Nadia stopped talking and spotted the man as well. Her heart accelerated and shock was all over her beautiful, now wrinkled face. "Elijah? What the hell are you doing here?" she finally managed to bring out. It had been months since she last spoke to him, and he was the least person she expected to see here. Klaus, yes, taking a very late revenge, but Elijah? They once had been close, but he had left her. Without blinking. Fury still raged within her, whenever it came to her mind.

"Good evening, Katerina." He smiled.

Katerina fought to sit up. She didn't want to look weak, not to him, while Nadia looked questioning from her mother to Elijah and back again. "Elijah? Elijah Mikaelson? The Elijah?"

"No, the other one", Katerina snapped and crossed her arms. "What, no flowers? Or is it too much to ask after you vanished to follow your brother like a lost puppy?" Oh no, she wouldn't make it easy for him. Katerina might didn't have much time left but damn her if she wouldn't bite.

Elijah still didn't lose his smile. "No flowers, I fear. But what kind of a gentleman would I be if I did not bring a gift?" He pulled a flacon out of his pocket and put it on the nightstand before leaning against the window frame, looking into the night.

"Well, it's no scotch. And I don't think, I will have any use for perfume." Katerina didn't understand what was going on. And if she truly hated one thing, then it was not knowing. Aside from a few other things as well.

"It is a potion I required from a witch who owed me a favour", Elijah explained and turned back to Katerina. "It will bring back your youth."

Nadia still watched him suspiciously, but her eyes lit up a little. "That's good, right? I mean, it won't make you a vampire again, but it would give you another fifty, sixty years. Minimum. That gives us enough time to find a longer lasting solution."

"Ah ah ah." Katerina pointed to the potion and narrowed her eyes. "You're going head over heels, Nadia. If there is a witch involved, there is always a catch. So, Elijah, where is the catch?" She wanted to trust him, wanted to believe him, but she couldn't believe that it should be that easy.

Elijah nodded. "It will give you back your youth for a certain period of time. One day for each year you have seen. Each human year."

"You walk in here, handing over a potion which will give her barely three more weeks? Klaus must have learned his cruelty from someone, I suppose", Nadia scoffed and glared at Elijah. "I can't believe you have the nerve to-"

By this point Elijah had gripped her neck and held her one foot above the ground. "First, you really need to learn to show some respect to your elders. Second, I do not have to explain my intentions to you. Third, it would be solely Katerina's decision if she wants to take the potion or not. And fourth: do you really think this potion would be everything I had to offer? I'm disappointed. It seems that newer vampires do not know enough about their origins."

"Let her down! Now, Elijah." It was no plea, Katerina's voice was fierce. Her look laid solely on Nadia's face, but her daughter showed no fear. Proud welled in her heart. She really was a Petrova, but some sort of instinct would do her good. She slowly started counting. Somewhere between three and four Elijah let Nadia down, returning to his former place at the window. Katerina waited another five seconds, watching Nadia shooting daggers at Elijah's back while she rubbed her sore neck. Well, that did start fine. "You said there was more than this potion?" Katerina fought to stay focused, her voice raspy. The situation tired her but she feared that she wouldn't wake again if she fell asleep now.

Worry flickered for a split second over his face before he turned absolutely calm again. "Yes. As your minion so smartly observed, this potion will only give you a few days more. But I have another potion in my possession which may solve your problem. It only has to be checked, if it would work the way we want, and for that I need to consult another witch. A descendant of the one who created said potion. It is worth the trial."

"Where is this witch? If you couldn't consult her until now she has to be in another country at least." Katerina eyed the potion. Eighteen days more. It was not much, but it would be enough to get away from Mystic Falls. Every hour she had to fear Damon showing up, using her weakness for his vengeance for not being able to let her go for one hundred and fifty years, gnawed at her nerves. Or Klaus, who could now seek her out and let her pay. Eighteen days would be enough do die in peace if the second potion wouldn't work. And she had worked with Elijah before when they searched for the cure. She could spent time with him if only a little.

"Another continent, to be exact", Elijah responded. "She took residence in Europe fifteen years ago. England. You will recognize the place once we got there."

"You're taking her with you?" Nadia asked furiously, ignoring the insult about the minion. "You have no right to do so. She could stay here with me while you're talking to that witch of yours. I can keep her safe."

"I appreciate your concern regarding Katerina, but I can assure you, she will be safe in England. Here her foes are capable to find her and without trying to insult you, but you cannot fight off everyone." The original vampire slowly went to Katerina's bedside and sat down on the chair standing there. "I know, you are probably still mad at me. I understand. But let me help you, Katerina. Trust me this one time that I can save your life."

Katerina knew he meant the night back then in England, when she discovered that Klaus was going to sacrifice her. She had been running, saving her life herself, using Trevor's feelings towards her to make it out in time and turn herself into a vampire. But then again her trust had run deep enough to ask for his help while searching for the cure. Could she still trust him, after he left her? Katerina knew the answer instantly. Yes. She would trust him with her life, hoping that one day he would return the favour. "Well, whether I'll die today, tomorrow or in three weeks, I can as well try that potion of yours, right?" Katerina's trademark smirk appeared on her face and she took the potion to examine the flacon. The liquid inside was thick and from a blue similar to a calm sea. Small silver flakes swirled inside with a hypnotizing pattern. It was beautiful. "What will happen, when I drink this?"

"You will fall asleep. The potion will renew your body and delete the traces of age. When the eighteen days are over, your body will return to this state within twelve hours. And presumably-"

"I will die. I get it." Katerina threw a look to Nadia. "Look, Nadia, I have nothing to lose. And I haven't been in England for… way to long. I missed London Fashion Week the last four years and even if I don't like the eternal rain there, the landscape is beautiful. I could use a vacation. And just because Elijah will be coming doesn't mean that you are forced to stay here. There will be room enough. Right, Elijah?"

Elijah cleared his throat and throwing a glance to the woman who stared murderously at him. "Of course. There is plenty of room for all of us."

Nadia scoffed and crossed her arms, but nodded. Katerina sighed and pinched the back of her nose. "Fine. I'm going to need some clothes for changing. There should be still some at the boarding house if Damon didn't burn them yet. Nadia, could you-"

"No", her daughter interrupted. "I'm staying until you wake. I'm not going to leave your side."

"I will go", Elijah quickly offered, glad to escape this irritating woman for some minutes. "I have something to talk about with Damon either way. He once called me his favourite original, so I assume that he will let me take your clothes. Unsolicited."

Katerina nodded and gave him a short smile. "Good. See you later, I hope." She opened the tiny bottle and drank the liquid within. Instantly her eyelids fluttered and her head sank back. Elijah caught the flacon before it could fall to the floor while Nadia pulled up Katerina's blanket.

"I will be back soon", Elijah said, then vanishing out of the room. He needed to hurry.

* * *

 **Well, what do you think? The following chapter is almost done, so let me know whether you want to read it or not.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you so much for your kind responses, it really keeps me going to know that you like it and want to read how everything will go on. Since I told you that the next chapter was almost ready, I couldn't think of a good reason why I should withhold it, so here you go. Sadly it won't be standard that updates are coming this fast, but I will try to give you every week a new bite of it.**

 **Quills and Inkwells: Thank you, I'm glad they all are who they supposed to be and that you like it so far. To be honest, I have a rather far sketched idea where I want to go with them, but all to often the characters do it their way. So let's see what happens.**

 **Guest 1: Thanks, I think Nadia belongs to Kalijah somehow. I am open for suggestions but I can't promise to realize them, since especially Kat does what she wants to do. But if you have any ideas you ant to share, feel free ;)**

 **Lanie: Yeah, I wish, too. The authors really missed an opportunity *deep sigh* I'm glad you love it.**

 **Guest 2: Here's the update ;) I think a little cozying up is more than necessary, if they happen to spend time in one house. Granted, it will be a big house, but still... I don't think Nadia will make it all too easy for him, but Elijah is a big boy, he knows what he's doing. Or so I hope.**

 **geminigurl89: Thank you, I'm glad to here. You don't have to wait no more, here's the next chapter.**

 **ElijahsKaterina: Here it is ;)**

 **So, enough of chitchat, palaver and flubdub, let's go on with the story.**

* * *

Elijah stalled his car in front of the house and made his way to the front door. He was relieved to escape Katerina's minion for a while. She was nearly as strong-willed as Katerina herself and there was something about the two of them that let Elijah stop short. Right now he had no nerves to think about it. At least Katerina had taken the potion to buy some more days. Now he hoped his plan would work out. But before that there was something else he had to take care of. Elijah knocked at the door which was opened only seconds later.

"My favourite original. What brings you to this little town? Holidays?" Damon welcomed him in his own way, leaning in the doorframe.

"I am here to fetch up some of Katerina's clothes. Do not bother yourself by getting them yourself, just tell me where I can find them." Elijah stayed calm, even if the thought that Damon could have tortured Katerina stirred his blood.

Damon narrowed his eyes. "I don't think Katherine has any use for them in the near future. You know, with lying on her deathbed. Does it really matter if she wears Prada or Gucci while dying?"

For the second time of the day Elijah grabbed someone's neck and shoved Damon against the wall. "Be careful, Damon. I am in no mood to make any deals for anyone's safety or to play any of your games. I will take Katerina's possessions with me and if you are only as half as smart as your brother, you will not try to prevent me from doing so. It might end with your heart far away from the rest of your body." He tightened his grip for a few moments before letting Damon fall to the floor and stepping over the younger vampire inside.

Stefan just came down the stairs, noticing Damon coughing on the floor, and nodded towards Elijah. "So you're here."

"Would've needed you a minute before, brother", Damon said and sat up.

Elijah and Stefan ignored him. "I am here to fetch Katerina's belongings. Would you be so kind as to show me where they are?" the older vampire asked.

Stefan nodded shortly again and pointed upstairs. "I put her things in one of the guest rooms. Some clothes, bathing stuff; not much. I think she had a bag, but if you need something to carry her stuff, call me."

"Wow, wow, wow, give me a sec", Damon interrupted while clumsily getting to his feet again. "What's going on here? Why do you need Katherine's stuff and why are the both of you talking like old drinking buddies?"

"Stefan informed me about Katerina's current condition and I will take her with me. She will not die of old age if I can prevent it", Elijah explained coldly and turned to the stairs.

Damon's mouth hang open when he looked at his brother. "You told him? No, no, no way. Katherine will stay here where I can watch her suffering. It's the least thing she can do after everything she did. She turned Stefan and me, she turned Caroline, and she tried to kill Elena. Multiple times. And she did kill Jeremy. So why the hell, Stefan, are you helping her? Did fucking her turned your brain to pudding?"

Elijah paused. Katerina had slept with Stefan? He had said he did not love her anymore this way but Elijah knew Katerina's charms. If she wanted something, she would get it. But he knew that Katerina's feelings towards Stefan did not matter, not for him. He would help her either way. He would try to save her life and then leave her living it. Knowing, that she was alive, had to be enough.

Without paying any more attention to the quarrelling Salvatore brothers, Elijah climbed the stairs until he found a neat guest room. It did not look as if anyone had used it for the last three weeks but a bag lied on the bed next to some clothes and other small things. It was not much but it contained the essential utensils to go as fast as possible without being slowed down by too much luggage. Katerina's go-bag, obviously. Elijah put the items inside the bag and shouldered it; he'd better hurry, Katerina should wake soon.

Back in the hallway, Damon was gone. Elijah could hear him drinking in the salon. Stefan was the only one awaiting him. "You found it. Good. Just take care, that Katherine doesn't let it rain blood once she's fully back in the land of the living." The younger brother smiled crookedly.

Elijah answered the smile briefly. "I will try to. But Katerina always did what she wanted to. At least since I know her." He remembered the stubborn girl who rode out when the clouds where thick and grey only because she would not let the weather destiny her day. He really hoped that this girl still was somewhere beneath this Katherine façade. There was only one way to find out.

Stefan shrugged. "I guess trying is worth a lot. And I know her thick skull. So… good luck. With everything."

Elijah nodded in appreciation and closed the door behind him. It was time.

* * *

When Elijah entered Katerina's room again, she still was asleep. But change was noticeable. The thick grey streaks in her hair had vanished, as did her wrinkles. Her hands on the blanket seemed stronger again and the sleep almost gave the impression of a way younger version of herself. More peaceful. Just contradictory to the vampire sitting at her side. Nadia threw him the same glances she used to when he first entreated and Elijah did not have the slightest idea why that was so. He did not remember her. Her features seemed similar to Katerina's but maybe that was her Bulgarian origin; he noticed the same accent Katerina had had when she had come to England all those years back.

"How is she?" Elijah asked, putting the bag beside the door and took a seat on the other chair in the room. He fought the urge to take Katerina's hand to comfort her; suspicioning that Nadia would try to take his head off and he did not want to explain Katerina the death of a friend of hers when she woke.

Nadia snorted. "At first she seemed to be in pain but she wouldn't wake. It passed. Now she almost looks dead if it wasn't for her heartbeat. How long will it take for her to wake up again?"

"Soon." Elijah sighed and leaned back. "Look, I do not know you but it would do Katerina no good if the both of us are fighting each other in this particular situation. She is going to need our help and I guess you have her trust when she agrees to have you around her while she is that weak. Katerina Petrova is no one to give away her trust easily."

"No, she isn't." Nadia proudly rose her chin, partly challenging the original. "And she has no reason to mistrust me. After all, I'm-"

"Nadia?" Katerina's low voice interrupted her and both vampires turned their heads. "Goddammit, I'm feeling weird. But not worse, that should mean something." She inspected her hand, now all age dots and wrinkles gone, and smiled a little bit. "Much better, to be honest. So, when are we going now? Can't wait to get out of here."

"A jet is waiting for you at the nearest airport. For both of you" Elijah added with a stern look to Nadia. "There is some business I have to take care of now, but I will meet you in London later. From the airport you will be brought to a hotel, where a suite will be prepared. The next day we will be travelling by car. Once we took residence, we will meet my witch. With a little bit of luck it all will be settled within two or three days." He pointed to the bag waiting at the door. "I picked up your belongings at the boarding house. Damon was not too pleased to say the least, but I do not think he will bother you again."

"Thank you, Elijah. For being here" Katerina said with a small, honest smile. "But don't you think I forgot the months before. Still… It's something I can work with."

Elijah bit back a chuckle. "I would not have thought anything else, Katerina. Enjoy your journey and do not worry: the staff on board is compelled to fulfil your every wish and to forget you were there once you landed. There will be nothing to fear about. But promise me one thing, Katerina: Do not run again. It would neither be the right time nor the right place to start our game of chasing all over again."

Katerina grinned at him and bowed her head. "As you please, my lord."

With one last smile to Katerina and a cold nod towards Nadia, the original vampire left the room. Better his brother knew he would leave town for three weeks before he found out by himself.

* * *

"Oh, I love the luxury of having enough money for champagne on a private jet" Katerina sighed, leaning back and enjoying the view. She sipped on the flute and nodded in approval. "And it's quite a good one. But you look as you're being transferred to jail. So what is the hair in your soup, oh sully daughter of mine?"

"Why do you trust him?" Nadia blurted out. Since the jet had started, she was sitting there with her arms crossed and her brows furrowed. "He has hunted you for five hundred years only so he could deliver you to Klaus. And now all of a sudden he wants to help you? I don't believe him. And I can't believe you're believing him."

Katerina smiled a smile that could almost be considered shy. "That's why you don't know the full story, I suppose. You're right, he chased me, but I don't think it was for Klaus. Not all the time at least. Three years ago he had me caught in a tomb underneath a burned church. I was at his mercy and yes, he compelled me to stay there for Klaus but when I managed to escape he didn't try to find me again. I think he didn't really wanted to sell me out but his brotherly duty or something like that forced him to. That's why I asked him to help me with the cure and again he didn't gave me over although he easily could have. I trust him because once upon a time he was the only person I could trust. When my father had me shipped to England, I was all alone. I had to leave you behind and yet I couldn't understand a word in this foreign language. The people were strange and their culture with them. It was a hard time learning everything and when Trevor brought me to Klaus's court, I could barely manage to talk without embarrassing myself." She shrugged and put the champagne glass back on the little table. "Elijah was patient. Every day he taught me another few words and answered all the questions I had. He was there for me when nobody else was."

"But that was five hundred years ago, mother! He was nice to you because Klaus probably told him to. Or so you weren't afraid, what do I know?" Nadia threw her hands in the air and shook her head. "I don't get it, really. What about the time after you fled? Klaus slaughtered your family, our family. Do you really think that Elijah didn't help him?"

"I never asked him and I don't intend to do it now", Katerina said quietly. "Look, Nadia, I won't force you to understand. But there was a time when I loved him and maybe I still do. Yes, after all that was between us. I would appreciate if you would try to accept his help. I'm not used to originals helping me."

"Do you have an idea what his plan could be? A witch in England?" Nadia ignored her mother's plea. First she wanted to see if Elijah was worth their trust. Right now she doubted it with all her heart.

Katerina shrugged. "He's twice as old as I am; no idea what he was doing in England before I went there. But I believe him that he has a plan. He wouldn't show up without at least having a roughly sketched plan in his mind."

"Back then in England when did you learn that Klaus wanted to sacrifice you?" Nadia pulled her legs onto the seat and leaned against the window. If she had a few more days with her mother, she wanted to use them. There was so much she still didn't know about her.

Katerina was quiet for a few heartbeats, running her index over the edge of the glass. "Quite late, to be honest" she finally said. "At first I was even stupid enough to fall for him. Don't look at me like that! Klaus was handsome; at least to the eyes of a Bulgarian peasant girl who didn't know better. He seemed brave and adventurous and reckless and he could be charming. I should become his wife; father probably would have exploded from proud if he had heard that an English lord was interested in me. Of course no one could know of you and that saved your life. Klaus wouldn't had let you alive if he knew that you were my daughter. Well, he wrote to one of father's friends in England to officially ask permission for our marriage; or at least that was what I should believe. Elijah kept me company while my husband-to-be was hunting. Not with horse and dog, of course. Elijah walked me through the gardens, talked with me and kept me busy. We even played like kids and for the first time in forever I felt okay since I left you behind. I remember Klaus showing up covered in blood once in a while and of course I was disturbed but he and Elijah would reassure me. After some time I realized that I feared Klaus, feared the future I was supposed to share with him. Instead it was Elijah's company I sought. I felt save with him, really save." Katerina fell quiet again, looking out of the window. "One night I heard them talking. About a sacrifice planned for the next night and my role in it. I did hear that Elijah asked for my life but I also heard that Klaus refused to spare my life. And Elijah didn't contradict. So I ran." Katerina shrugged as if it didn't matter. Truth was, that her hands started shaking so she hid them in her lap.

Nadia watched her mother. She wanted to reach over, wanted to reassure her, but she knew all too well that Katerina would never allow her to. So she only asked: "Elijah tried to save your life? Why? And how?"

A ghostly smile played around Katerina's lips and let her almost seem like the girl from back then, full of life and hope. Waiting for the adventures the world had to offer her. Believing not only in love, but in true love. That kind of love that could last five hundred years and more. "Because of love, little dummy. He truly did love me but I didn't trust him enough. How could I believe that he would stand up to his brother when he never did before? So I used Trevor's feelings to escape. I think Elijah hunted me because of this lack of trust in the first place."

"You're evading. How did he plan to save you?" Nadia felt that this part was important. She couldn't pinpoint a reason but in the last few decades she had learned to rely on her gut. It couldn't be a coincidence that Elijah sent Katerina to the place where he once failed to save her human life only to make in up now. There had to be a reason.

"Dunno. He never told me and I never asked. It's not like we had much time to chat lately, you know?" Katerina took her champagne again. "Time's changed. I changed. And I do trust him with my life today. Not only because I want to. I trusted him when I searched for the cure; back then he was the one who didn't trust me enough. But who could blame him?"

"You still love him." It wasn't a question but Nadia sounded confused. "But what about Stefan? Two weeks ago you would have done anything to regain his forgiveness."

Katerina snorted. "Stefan… I did love him back then when I first came to Mystic Falls. But since I started aging so fast he was the only friend I had. And I enjoyed it. Having a friend, I mean. It's not something I'm used to. So yes, I wanted his forgiveness. And the sex with him… Man, it was good, really good. But more in a kind of friends with benefits way than romantic. I'm a woman after all and I have needs."

"I really would prefer not to talk about your sex life. That's weird", Nadia said, holding her hands up defensively and scrunching her nose. "But if this Elijah-guy tries to hurt you in any way, I will rip his heart out."

"Oh, don't worry." The older woman grinned proudly and winked at her daughter. "I'll help."

* * *

 **Seems like poor Elijah won't have the easy way but oh well, then we all would be bored, right? Looking forward to the next chapter, there will be a little more mother-daughter-time (something I couldn't get enough on the show). Hope you all like it as much as I do.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Since today I had my second to last exam this semester, I thought I celebrate with you by uploading the new chapter. I really hope you like it. If so, you can tell me. If not, please do so more than ever, because I want you to enjoy this story.  
**

 **Guest: Thank you, I'm glad you like it. Kalijah without even the slightest of smut? No way ;) Only be patient.**

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Elijah's face remained absolutely calm when Niklaus turned into a raging hurricane, throwing things around and yelling loud enough for the whole quarter to hear. "You have to be gotten mad, Elijah. Mad! After five hundred years you demand her freedom just as in the night back then before she vanished? How dare you? Because of this… shrew I had to wait another half a millennia before I could break this bloody curse. And now I should give up my revenge? Why?"

"Because it is me who is asking you, brother." Elijah leaned against the doorframe, watching Niklaus with wary eyes. "I never asked you for anything. I always put your happiness before mine. And now it is you who should have my back. It is the only favour I ask of you, brother. Grant Katerina her freedom. Grant her permission to come into this city without you or your minions harming her."

"You didn't learn anything, did you?" Niklaus stopped in his pacing long enough to throw Elijah a piercing glance. "That bloody woman broke your heart once and don't you try to deny it. Why shouldn't she do it again? I need you here, Elijah. Marcel still has to much influence and those damned witches… I need you and your nose for diplomacy. You know well enough I'm more a man of swords than of words. Or at least fangs." Niklaus grinned for a moment.

Elijah adjusted his sleeves and rolled his eyes. "You always need me. That is the point of this conversation. You need my help to regain power over this kingdom of yours. But what if I would deny you this help? Only in turn because you are denying me some kind of yours?"

Niklaus groaned and pointed at his brother. "You're blackmailing me."

"Why yes, I am. Don't say it is an unfamiliar trait, Niklaus. Now, how would you feel about an offer of mine? You are granting Katerina's safety in any way possible and in turn I will help you to overthrow Marcel. After I returned from a little journey." Elijah allowed himself a short smile. He knew that Niklaus was more occupied with his personal game of thrones than with his revenge on Katerina. And he also knew that he needed Niklaus's permission before he returned with a hopefully newly turned Katerina at his side.

His brother looked at him with narrowed eyes, for once silent. Eventually he scoffed, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "You had planned this all along, didn't you? After five hundred years of chasing that woman you want her freedom. Why? She isn't the same as back then in England. So why are you so desperately trying to save her?"

Elijah shrugged slightly, avoiding Niklaus's gaze. "Somewhere deep down is a fragment of Katerina. I have to believe this. Niklaus, you know as well as I do that I am not a man who gives away his heart easily. After Tatia… there was a long time no one I trusted enough to let in. And then she came. It was not her resemblance to Tatia. Well, maybe that way I wanted to know her better. But even back then she was nothing like her. If it had been any other girl, I might never have asked for her life back then. But I did and you refused. Now I ask you again, brother. Grant me her life and I will never forget it. Do not and I will never forget it either. I will turn my back to you and this town and you will never see me again. It is your choice."

It was quiet for a few long minutes in the now devastated room. None of the brothers moved, none spoke. They could have been mistaken for statues if it hadn't been for the blinking. Eventually, Niklaus sighed and raised his hands in a defeated motion. "Fine. I don't like your so called offer and don't you dare think I wouldn't enjoy myself when your little dove shows up. I have some catching up to do and I won't be extra nice to her, understand? Better she has a good sense of fear. Without fear she's kind of rebellious, don't you think? Won't need that while I'm conquering a city."

"One of her many virtues" Elijah smiled and turned to leave. "I will return in three weeks. Try not to wipe New Orleans from the map, would you?" 

* * *

Katerina simply dropped her bag when she entered the suite. "I assumed that Elijah wouldn't have chosen some cheap double room, but this… Have to admit, I wasn't prepared. It's a shame we're only going to stay for a night." She sighed and let herself fall onto one of the king-size beds.

"It's okay" Nadia stated and gave the suite only a quick glance. "I would rather work on healing you, but I guess we can allow us to be idle for one day."

"Will you light up? Please?" Katerina groaned and sat up again. "London is a wonderful city in a beautiful country. If you want to do something cultural, we could visit Whitehall or I could show you how I snuck out the Tower once. Or…" Katerina waved a card, "we could use Elijah's credit card on Oxford Street. I'm partly sure he doesn't want me to walk around naked so he won't mind. Admit it, you want to get back on him, even if it's just by spending his money." Katerina winked at her daughter.

"Oxford Street is crowded. It would be more difficult to protect you there than here" Nadia pointed out. "Even if your enemies don't know that you're human, you have enough of them. It's too high a risk."

Katerina scoffed. "Please. I didn't cause trouble in England for at least a century. Maybe only a half, but you know what I mean. Do you really want to keep me from shopping? I only have one jeans with me and three shirts. That's not even near enough." She did not like being a human who could be pushed around. Not at all. And when Katerina Petrova wanted to go shopping, you better let her.

"Aren't you hungry? Or tired for that matter? We were on that jet quite a while and there wasn't much of food but for champagne." Nadia wanted to avoid bringing her mother in danger even if it meant to upset her. But she simply refused to trade Katerina's life for a blouse.

Katerina grimaced. She _was_ hungry for that matter, she only wanted to grant Nadia this victory. She was just about starting to lie when her body betrayed her. Her stomach started to growl and from Nadia's smirk she could tell that vampire senses weren't necessary to hear it. "Fine. We're looking for a nice little restaurant, okay? Italian, perhaps?" And yes, she also was tired since it was late afternoon and she was awake for almost twenty-four hours. But she had never felt more alive and Katerina didn't want to waste the time she was given.

"Let's use room service instead, alright? I know you don't want to, but please. For me. Plus, Elijah wouldn't approve it if you die on my watch. I like my life, you know?" If Nadia was honest, she couldn't care less what Elijah thought; he had no right to worry about her mother. But she knew for sure that he would kill her if she didn't prevent Katerina's death. Not to mention that she wouldn't want to stop him, if it had been her fault.

Katerina groaned. "Fine. You order something, I'll take a shower. Need to scrub this hospital smell away." Then she would go shopping the next day. Only a little bit of fluttering eyelashes and Elijah wouldn't dare to turn her down. Who knew where he would bring them?

Although she had to admit enjoying the warm water on her skin. The bathroom was decorated in a clear style; uncomplicated white marble, big mirror and clean taps without so much as a fingerprint. Katerina felt how the stress fell off her shoulders for the moment. She was glad to escape Damon's impending revenge for now, hoping that she could pay him back once she was a vampire again. Or at least when she didn't age anymore.

It was around noon in Mystic Falls but here in London the night already lurked at the edge of the sky. Even if Katerina wouldn't fess up to Nadia being right, but she was too tired to go shopping right now. She hated flying, always did, and the champagne did have its effect on her. But a quick shower and something to eat should settle her lightly spinning head. Katerina could not help but think about Elijah. How did he know? She was virtually sure Damon had informed Klaus; not coercively to kiss his ass but simply to make dying harder for her. However he would never have told Elijah and she couldn't imagine Klaus telling his brother either. So who then? Not Nadia. Her daughter clearly wasn't too impressed by Elijah's charms and she couldn't blame her. Not Caroline, either. She liked the blonde although her crush on Klaus was something Katerina didn't fully understand, but she wouldn't contact Elijah. Apart from them there was only Stefan who could have talked to the original. But would he? And the better question: why should he? Sure, he had been nice to her since she was dying, even tried to make it easier for her. But consoling her and saving her life were two quite different things. She wouldn't deny it: she had done some terrible things. Partly to survive and partly just because she could do it. Stefan had no reason to save her, especially since his friends wouldn't be to happy about it. It was something, Katerina really hat to figure out.

Turning the shower off, she slipped into the bathrobe that hung on a hook beside the mirror. The dark blue cloth was smooth, as were the towel she used to dry her hair. There was a hairdryer but Katerina wasn't in the mood for it. Beside her there was only Nadia in this suite and her daughter really did see her worse. It felt almost like freedom to not worry over her style. Sure, she liked to tart herself up and until she wasn't sure Elijah was absolutely honest with her, he wouldn't see her like this, but right now she didn't want to wonder if she had to be Katerina, Katherine or even Elena. She just wanted to be.

Nadia hadn't been idle while she was in the bathroom. Diverse plates with food had been brought in and on the bed even was something that seemed like shopping bags of the one or other designer. Nadia had been standing at the window and now turned around to look at her. "I didn't know what you would like, so I chose a little bit of everything. And since you wanted some new clothes, I ordered them. The hotel service really is good I have to admit. Size should be fitting, otherwise I'm sure they take it back."

"Elijah's credit card?" Katerina asked while looking through the bags. Nadia again proved herself her daughter. The clothes were magnificent and similar to her style: rather dark colours like black, blue and purple, tight jeans, a pair of heels and one of boots for the chillier days that awaited them. Katerina hoped to get the opportunity to wear them.

"Of course his credit card." Nadia frowned and crossed her arms. "Do you like them? I thought it a reasonable compromise for arguing with you doesn't help at all."

Katerina sighed and nodded. "I do like them. And we both get what we wanted, so why should I complain? Besides, it shows me once more you really are my daughter through and through. Present someone with a fait accompli and don't bother the consequences. Good. I just hope you brought something for yourself since you don't have to pay for it."

A mischievous smile appeared on Nadia's lips. "Needless to ask." She sauntered over to the plates and picked up some grapes. "Help yourself, the chicken gets cold. Do you have any idea, where Elijah wants to go? When he talked, it seemed as if you should know the place."

Katerina shrugged, dropped the shopping bags onto the floor and chose some of the cheese. "It's not like I was on vacation with him in the past. The only time I know of when we were simultaneously in England was in 1492, roughly. Most time I spend at Klaus's court at Hever Castle in Kent. Not far from here. Originally the Boleyns owned it, but I guess that didn't stop him. I wouldn't put it past Elijah that he bought it. Or required it in another form. Maybe his witch lives near, I don't know. What I do know, is that I won't wear a corset. I've had enough of them for the rest of my life, trust me." She flopped onto the sofa and sighed. It was silent for a while until Katerina spoke again. "Have you been to Bulgaria lately?"

"No." Nadia sat down on the armchair let her legs dangle over the side. "Don't get me wrong, I want to see home again. But the last centuries I was too occupied with looking for you. Maybe when everything is settled. We could go together. If it has to be, we could even take Elijah. It's not like I have to talk with him or anything"

"I haven't been there, either. After I found my family slaughtered, I never returned but for searching you. When I didn't find you, I turned my back to the past and moved on. But... Only to have considered the worst case scenario, I want you to bring me to Bulgaria. If I have to be buried, I want to be buried there." Katerina didn't look her daughter into the eyes while talking. She would rather not be dead-dead but you could seldom choose. And at some point she eventually wanted to go home.

Nadia only nodded. Even she had considered the possibility of losing her mother again, but she wouldn't let it happen easily.

"There is something that's on my mind for quite a while", Katerina admitted, mostly to change the subject. "With Elena being alive, you had to have a child. What happened to my grandchild?"

Nadia turned stony-faced away. "I gave birth to her and gave her to my younger sister, before I started looking for you. Honestly I don't want to talk about it right now."

Katerina stayed quiet while studying her daughter's face. It hurt her that she obviously was hurt in the past, but at present Katerina wouldn't push her further. "I had a younger sister, too. Deniza was much better-behaved than I could ever become. She was sweet and kind and she always laughed. But she cried when Father send me away and I had to promise her to send letters regularly. I don't know if she ever got them but it felt good writing everything down. When we were little, we always dreamed of adventures. We built forts in the wood and played all day until mother decided we had to behave like proper woman. What it meant was basically that we had to learn everything a wife in Bulgaria had to know. Little of that came in handy in England later." She shrugged and pulled herself up to get another bite of the cheese. "When you say younger sister, you mean adoptive younger sister I assume."

"No, not quite." Nadia cleared her throat. "More like younger half-sister. It seems that your father brought me straight to my father back then. He already had a wife and a son who was two years older than me. I knew that I was different because his wife never liked my, but I think I was about thirteen when he first told me the whole story of you. I decided to search for you, but he wouldn't allow it until I was old enough. But then I did go."

"Wow. I wouldn't have thought that my father would bring you there. I mean, I told him Hristo's name, but still. And I'm sorry that your stepmother couldn't love you the way she should. The way I had should." Katerina had known, that Hristo already had been wed; he had told her himself after she confessed to being pregnant. She hoped that he at least had been there for his daughter. "I guess that's why you were still in touch with Travellers as a vampire. Usually witches of any kind want nothing to do with vampires."

Nadia nodded. "Father understood that I had to search you, so he brought me in contact with a vampire. So I started. Even if my stepmother was a bitch, I had a father and siblings who loved me. And I knew somewhere I had a mother who loved me, too. That was enough."

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 **Okay, the ending maybe happend to be a tiny bit cheesy, but I loved the bonding-time (after spending Elijah's money, but who could blame the girls?) What do you say to this part of Nadia's history?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Since it is way more fun to write this instead of an essay, I thought I give you something to read while I should really go to work *ahem* So, have fun with this chapter and let me know what you think ;)**

 **Kenna: Gotta admit I enjoy your craving ;) Here is a kiss, but don't worry, there will come plenty of them. Kalijah shipper's word of honour. And I'm currently writing on chapter 6, where they finally inaugurate the bed.**

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Katerina woke to the clattering sound of a plate being put down. Her hair was a mess and the bathrobe she had slept in hung loosely around her slender body. The sound of pouring water came from the bathroom and unwillingly she finally rose. Only to meet Elijah's eyes, which had taken a quick glance over her forms, until he cleared his throat and turned half away.

"I ordered breakfast for you", he explained unnecessarily and held out a cup of coffee for her without looking at her. "Was your journey pleasurable?"

Katerina couldn't quite hide a smirk, but decided to not torture him any further. Yet. Rising from the bed she fixed the bathrobe with a quick knot and tied her hair in a careless bun. Only then she accepted the coffee from his hands and took a sip. Instead of the typical thin English version she tasted the rich flavour of an Italian roast. "It was. Since when are you here?"

"I landed two hours prior", Elijah answered and took a seat at the table, where he grabbed a local newspaper. "You already bought out whole Oxford Street?"

"Not quite." Now Katerina smiled openly and sat down as well. "I wanted to but Nadia was of the mind that it would be too dangerous for me while still being human. Instead we ordered a few things so I don't have to run around naked. Although you wouldn't mind, right?"

"I would", Nadia objected stepping out of the bathroom, fully clothed, and helped herself to a cup of coffee. "What do you think why I fixed you up with those clothes?" Then she turned towards Elijah with keeping some distance between them. "Where are we going today? Will it be safe there?"

Elijah put the newspaper down and looked at her. "It is an estate I required some decades ago. Off the record as William Waldorf Astor and for thirty years it is open to public. I let it close for the next four weeks so we won't have to fear unwelcome visitors. So yes, it is safe there, with all amenities you can wish for. There we will meet the witch."

"Hever Castle, isn't it?" Katerina observed Elijah with wary eyes while grabbing a piece of toast and a spoonful of scrambled eggs. "The castle where we met. Why there? It's impossible the only property you have in England, right?"

"It is not, but I like the place. It is not the same as five hundred years before and neither are we. Klaus won't come there, you can trust me on that. He is too occupied with holding his precious kingdom together to even consider to go away. He also won't sent someone to fetch you. You will be safe there but if you insist you can summon a security staff yourself. Perhaps some who still owe you a favour?" Elijah's voice was calm but Katerina knew him long enough to sense that he wasn't all too happy with her being suspicious.

She shook her head and threw a short glance to Nadia. "No, I trust you. Besides, I don't want too many people knowing that I'm a human and dying. There are more than Klaus that I pissed off during the years." If you wanted to survive, you couldn't make any friends. She'd rather deal with those when she was a vampire again. "Hever Castle is not far from London, I recall. I assume we will go there soon?"

"As soon as you are ready to." With his usually blank, polite expression Elijah turned towards Nadia. "For you a room has been also prepared, right next to Katerina's. Although it is open to you to stay in London and enjoy some free days. I learned you were always at Katerina's side the past weeks, so you surely desire some leisure time."

Nadia managed to scowl so darkly, that even Katerina had to gulp. "I won't leave her side until she tells me to. I don't need any free time and I don't want any as long as she is in danger. You I consider a danger unless you prove me otherwise, so yes: I will gladly take the room you mentioned."

Elijah nodded with something that could even be considered as approval. "Very wise to regard me as a danger. It seems that younger vampires do have an intellect even if there are those like Damon to prove me otherwise."

"She's older than Damon. Way older", Katherine remarked nonchalantly and stood up. "Please don't kill each other while I'm in the bathroom, would you?" She could swear even with her limited human hearing ability she could hear two voices muttering: "Have a go at it." The following three weeks would be anything but boring.

Thanks to traffic two hours later they arrived at Hever Castle. Katerina wound the window on the passenger side down and peered outside. The castle with its sandy walls rose amidst a huge park area. It was a beautiful sight since the English rain had decided to take a break for the day, but a knot formed in her stomach. The last time she arrived her was with a carriage, curious for the people who awaited her here, not knowing how a simple greeting could change her mind. Elijah seemed to sense her uneasiness for he took the hand from the shift knob and laid it atop hers.

"No harm will come to you within these walls, I promise", he said softly, caressing her skin with his thumb before taking the hand back on the steering wheel. "Nor in the gardens, by the way. I don't know how they have done it, but they look almost like back then. Even our bench still exists."

A smile tugged at Katerina's lips and she took a deep breath, reaching behind to clasp Nadia's hand with hers. "It's gonna be fine", she said, almost as if she had to convince herself, not her daughter. "If it's too boring at the countryside we can drive into town once or twice."

Nadia returned the squeeze for a moment, then freed her hand again. "When did you purchase the castle?" Apparently she decided to encounter Elijah not only with rejection. After all her mother loved him and could have wanted him back in her life. Nadia didn't want to muddy this future but she didn't want to give her trust easily either.

Elijah blinked in surprise and met Nadia's gaze in the rear mirror. "Around nineteen hundred. I purchased it under a pseudonym to ensure that I could spent my time here in private if I wish so. When Niklaus and I lived here the first time, it belonged to the Boleyn family, Anne's grandfather to be precise. Niklaus convinced him to surrender it to us since he still owned a house in London where he was Lord Mayor. It was some kind of a scandal, though. The name Mikaelson was old but we hadn't been that long in England, so most of the old houses regarded us as parvenus. Still, we held enough power and land to prove ourselves and make alliances, however dubious. Even Henry VII. once was our guest."

"I remember him. It was during the feast to Klaus's birthday, right? I didn't really meet him, Trevor told me his name as we passed by", Katerina remembered.

"Did Henry want to go to your little party or was he forced to?" Nadia had seen a lot of corruption in her long life but she couldn't belief that the king who ended the wars of the roses let himself being pushed around by some pseudo-monarchs who hadn't the slightest claim to the throne.

Elijah grimaced at the question. "Both, I think. He knew that we held certain alliances – of course also towards those, who still doubted his claim to the throne. Perhaps he wanted to prevent Niklaus from scheming a revolt. In that case he could be glad that Katerina decided not to play along his plans."

"Why, yes, I always liked being the hair in Klaus's soup." Katerina shrugged and loosened the seatbelt before opening the door. She still felt a little queasy but decided to go on with it. It didn't help at all and at the moment she really had no reason for being nervous. "Now he at least has New Orleans to play king, hasn't he? Well, as long as he's not too busy dealing with some witches and a pregnant werewolf."

"You know of Hailey?" Elijah asked while opening the trunk.

Katerina put the hands on her sides and shifted her weight to one leg. "Of course I do. I told him myself. Jane-Anne was a dear friend of mine before Marcel slaughtered her and she told me about it. It's all about having connections, Elijah."

He shook his head. "Why do I even ask?" He then turned to Nadia who was just scrambling from the backseat. "Would you take the luggage? I-"

"What? I'm not a servant, you can carry your stuff yourself", Nadia furiously interrupted. "I'm here to look after Katerina, not to play your serving maid. Bite me!"

Elijah seemed startled for a moment, then his face turned into a scowl. "I did not intend to upset you, but it is rarely seen that Katerina is keeping a plain guard around. I only assumed-"

"Shut it, the both of you!" Katerina stepped to the back of the car and grabbed her bags. "I'll carry my stuff, you'll carry yours. It can be easy like that, can't it?" Right now she had no nerves for the two of them quarrelling and she knew that sooner or later she had to tell Elijah who Nadia was. It was not like she feared him to hurt her; he would never dare if Katerina's opinion of him meant something to him. But she did fear that this little secret could stumble off his lips while talking to Klaus. What if he chose her daughter to pay her back? Katerina would never forgive herself for being the one who offered him this kind of leverage.

Nadia as well as Elijah gaped after her as she climbed the stairs to the wide wooden doors, clearly impeded by her baggage. They exchanged a quick look, then Nadia grabbed the remaining bags while Elijah closed up to Katerina and took her bags from her. "I'm sorry", he said quietly. "Nadia is very different to all those people you have worked with before. I should have known that she is someone important if you let her be by your sickbed. This I won't forget again, I promise."

Katerina only nodded and waited, until Elijah opened the door before she stepped inside. "Which way?"

"First floor, then to the left. It's the first room on the right side", Elijah answered while holding the door open for Nadia. "Nadia's room is one door further. I hope they are to your satisfaction."

Their steps echoed through the hall as they climbed the marble stairs. Katerina opened the door to her room and puzzledly took a step back. The room was nearly as big as the salon in the Salvatore Mansion and was ridden by an enormous canopy bed which creamy curtains were drawn back. Similar curtains were attached to the sides of the ceiling-high window which allowed a wide view into the gardens. Beneath the window was a bench cushioned with the same creamy cloth. On one wall stood a dressing table right beside a writing desk. A half ajar standing door on the right hand led to a bathroom with a tub big enough for two.

"Do you like it?"

Elijah's voice startled her and she turned around with a little smile. "It is wonderful, thank you. It is my old chamber, isn't it? Not the whole room, but part of it."

"I thought it a good idea but if you cannot stand-"

"No", Katerina said quickly. "It was a good idea, really. As you said, we are not the same as back then and Klaus's ghost won't hunt me in here. But just in case, where will you be sleeping?"

Elijah nodded to the door opposite to hers. "Right there. If there is anything you need, tell me. You won't have to run."

Katerina couldn't bite back a chuckle. "You won't ever let that down, will you?"

"Not in a thousand years." Elijah seemed to consider a difficult question in his mind according to his look, but after hesitating once more he caught her face in his palm and bend slightly over to kiss her. Katerina was caught by surprise but eventually she returned the kiss and brought one hand to his chest for support, the other to his neck to deepen the kiss. It almost felt like five hundred years before, briefly before she had to flee, when they had stolen away to the gardens to share some undisturbed moments.

"Hey, the rooms really are gr- Oh, sorry!" Nadia did look apologetic as she burst into the room. Katerina and Elijah quickly let go of on another, one of them blushing, the other clearing his throat, like two teenagers being caught.

"Well, ahem, Maisie will arrive soon, so I will wait in the salon. The both of you can unpack and join me later." Elijah nodded as he passed Nadia and left the room.

Nadia grabbed her mother by the wrist and pulled her into the bathroom before she closed the door and turned on the water-tap. "Don't you think he should know who I am if the two of you get romantic again?" She was angry, that she had to be pushed around only because her mother refused to fess up.

"Of course", Katerina answered quietly. "But it's for your protection. If I'm dead and Klaus finds out about you- I don't want you to suffer for the choices I made a long time ago. But I will tell Elijah, I promise. Even if it's solely to ask him to watch out for you. You tend to make dangerous decisions if you're emotionally involved, you know?"

"When? I mean if you want a babysitter for me, although I don't need one, then we should come to know each other right? And also if he's an asshole, I want to know the man you couldn't forget in five hundred years. The man that couldn't forget you."

"Soon. I promise." Katerina gave her a light kiss on the cheek and smiled. "Now come on, unpacking. We don't want to keep the asshole waiting, do we?"

"I do", Nadia muttered but followed Katerina. She could only hope, that her mother was serious about it.

* * *

 **I kinda come to like those awkward moments :D And even I am curious about how Elijah and Nadia will finally get along. In case of emergency Katerina will have the right weapons, I think ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N I don't know how's the weather like where you live, but today here in Germany we got cooked by almost 40°C. At least I have enough ice cream. Well, here you go with the new chapter, I hope you like it.**

 **Anna: Update took a little while longer this time, but here it is. Don't worry, steamy moments will come in chapter 6, promise ;)**

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As Katerina and Nadia descended the stairs and entered the salon, Elijah and a strange young woman already sat there with a cup of tea. Nadia remained with crossed arms at the door, while Katerina approached the delicate coffee table.

Elijah rose and gestured towards the woman. "May I introduce: Maisie, descendant of Joan, a witch who once granted me a wish. Maisie, this is Katherine Pierce; you may have heard of her."

Katerina appreciated Elijah not using her given name. It was something personal and only few people still used it. Strange witches she didn't know or trust were none of those who she would allow to call her like that. For those and her many enemies except for Klaus, Katherine would suffice. "It's a pleasure. And of course you've heard of me, right?"

"Katherine's not exactly a rare name, is it?" Maisie answered unimpressed, but nodded a greeting. "I'm sure you're really badass and all that stuff, but I'm not interested in any stories. Why precisely am I here, Elijah? You only told me it was urgent, so here I am. I would love to get over with it, so I can go back to studying. Finals are in a few weeks and I'm no vampire so I could bumble trough."

If truth be told, Katerina almost instantly didn't like the witch, but she pulled herself together. Aside from biting her teeth together and clenching her fists. This brat probably was her only chance to survive the cure. Before Elijah could even open his mouth, Katerina stated: "We need a cure for the cure for vampirism. As soon as possible, which basically means right now."

"Calm down, grandma, you're ugly when you're mad." Maisie reacted fast as Nadia rushed over to her and put forth her hand, so the vampire groaningly was floored. As if nothing happened, Maisie turned back to face Katerina and Elijah. "What exactly is this cure for vampirism doing? I need a little more information if I'm supposed to help."

Katerina obviously was boiling with rage and she only hardly contained herself. She wanted to rip the bitch's head off, but she couldn't. She was a human and weak and she needed the witch's help. Still, she was proud that Nadia didn't plead and only crouched at the floor. "The cure erases everything that has to do with vampirism. If someone gets sucked dry, time catches up and the person starts to age rapidly. We need you to create a potion or a spell or whatever to stop the aging and potential side-effects of the cure, so the person can be turned into a vampire again."

Maisie smiled devilishly at Katerina. "For someone who ages fast, you seem quite young. Well, aside from the wrinkles around your eyes. And is that an age dot?"

Elijah cleared his throat and slightly stepped between the two woman to prevent a possibly blood bath. "I held a potion in my possession which granted her a few days more. Your ancestor Joan once brew me a potion which would bring someone back to live if this someone had died of blood loss caused by a certain vampire. I need to know if this potion still works that way and if it would be possible to turn said resurrected person into a vampire without some cure hindering it. If not, we need a new solution." He walked over to a sideboard where he picked up a small wooden box. The box he placed on the coffee table and opened it. Inside was a flacon, which glass had turned milky over the centuries, bedded on threadbare velvet.

"May I?" As Elijah nodded, Maisie picked up the flacon cautiously to survey it, while Nadia slowly came to her feet again. "If you've told me earlier, I would have brought Joan's grimoire. Or at least what is left of it. But it's in my dormitory and I guess I would need it to know what she did exactly back then." She clasped it with both her hands, closed her eyes and murmured something.

Katerina anxiously shifted her weight. This didn't seem as it would be done in one or two days. She caught Elijah's glance and he nodded reassuringly. Obviously he trusted the witch, for whatever reason. She only hoped it wouldn't be for nothing.

"What I can tell you is that it still works. At least I think so. I would have it tested if it has to be one specific person to suck her dry or if any vampire could do it. To say if it could countermand the cure, I would need more time and my grimoires. Maybe even the help of another witch. I know one, who-"

"No!" Katerina, Nadia and Elijah exclaimed simultaneously ere the latter added: "I'm sure you can manage this by yourself. I would suggest you collect your grimoires as soon as possible and then return again. The matter is urgent and I assume you do not want to get on my bad side. Do you see the point?"

Maisie gulped visible, nodded and placed the portion back in its box. "I'll be back tomorrow. Promise."

Katerina stepped in her way as Maisie headed for the door and smiled dangerously. "Let me be a little clearer as polite Elijah. If you don't return tomorrow, I will hunt you down and then you will know me. Just in case I die before I'll find you, Nadia will gladly step in. And trust me, you shouldn't underestimate her soft spot for guns. So a) you better hurry and b) you better do a good job. You understand? Good."

"I should accompany her", Nadia said, glaring towards Maisie. "To make sure she won't be idle. Just grabbing my Berretta, then we can go. I'm the one with the guns by the way." Almost playfully she winked at the witch. "The both of you are alright until tomorrow?"

"No harm will come to Katerina", Elijah seriously said. "I trust you can deal with Maisie if needed?"

"Don't worry. I won't even need my gun to show her who's running the show." Nadia almost seemed delighted by the prospect of being able to use her gun again; it had been a long time since she last could play with them.

Maisie waited in the salon, closely watched by Elijah and Katerina. She seemed to have realised to have lost the upper hand. Elijah adjusted his cufflinks and stepped in front of the witch. "You have heard enough threats to be sure we are serious about the consequences if you make the wrong choices. Do not forget that you are dealing with an original vampire. We are not easily betrayed. Those who choose to do so come to regret their actions very soon."

"I got it, okay? Don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm coming back with all my stuff and then go straight to work."

"It's not like you have a choice, darling", Nadia said smilingly, stepping back into the room. "Can we go? We don't want to dally, do we?" She grabbed Maisie by the arm and pulled her towards the front door. "See you tomorrow! Don't do anything I wouldn't do." With a _boom_ the door fell shut.

"Does this Joan not have any other descendants? This girl is cheeky and I really don't like her work ethic." Katerina flopped onto one of the armchairs and grimaced. Witches weren't anymore what they once supposed to be. "For whom was this potion anyway? Your Tatia?"

Elijah put his hands into his pockets. "No. Tatia was long dead then. I had the potion being created for you."

"For me?" Katerina blinked in surprise and straightened up.

"Of course for you!" Elijah seemed beside himself with impatience, running his hand through his hair. "I knew from the beginning that Niklaus planned to sacrifice you, so I worked soon enough on a plan of my own. That's what I meant when I said you could trust me. You would have drunken the potion before the ritual and would have woken up a short time later, still a human. But you ran away and turned yourself into a vampire."

"I didn't know", Katerina said quietly and examined him closely. "Back then I barely knew you and with all those people lying to me I couldn't be sure that you really wanted to help me. I heard you in the woods later that night when you led the searching party. You sounded so angry I decided better not cross your path. Trevor helped me and led you another way."

"Yes, and he paid for betraying me. I _was_ angry, Katerina. Angry you didn't trust me, that you thought me as maleficent as Niklaus." Elijah took a deep breath. "This is not the right time, I'm sorry. I got carried away. We can discuss this after we solved your current problem."

Katerina stood up and crossed the distance with a few steps and laid hesitantly her hand on his cheek. "I made mistakes, not only a few. That certainly was one of them. But I think you got back on me when you detained me in that tomb."

"I only intended to scare you. I still was angry enough to yearn for this small revenge, but I would never have turned you over", Elijah objected. "But before we could have a serious talk, you made them stab me and therefore released the compulsion. And you ran. Again."

"Old habits die hard." Katerina shrugged and smiled playfully. "Back then in the gardens you never complained."

"Back then in the gardens there weren't many possibilities where you could have hidden. Do you have any idea how often in the past centuries I only missed you for a heartbeat? There were moments when I was so close to finding you" Elijah sighed and leaned into her touch. "You know… Sometimes I found you on the bench in the remotest corner and you were lost in thoughts. Startled, when I spoke to you, as if you expected to be all alone in the world. I always wondered what could be on your mind to make you look so melancholy."

"I never told you?"

"No, but I never asked either. I didn't want to push you, afraid of scaring you away", Elijah quietly admitted. "I understand that you were frightened by Niklaus. I could see it whenever he was in your company. I only didn't want you to look at me the same way. I couldn't have stand it."

"You could ask now, if you want to. Maybe you would regret it if you didn't ask me while you had the possibility. If we haven't found a solution within three weeks-"

"We will find a solution. Do you hear me? I won't let you die, not this time." Elijah gently cradled her face in his hands, caressing her skin with his thumb, testing the softness of her hair, the suppleness of her lips, before he softly kissed her. "You could have called me, when you knew what was happening to you. Why didn't you?"

"Because after Willoughby I didn't knew what to do with you. I was so mad at you, you can scarcely imagine. You made your priorities clear and I didn't want to feel the disappointment of your rejection, when again you would choose Klaus over me", Katerina explained. "That really would have killed me, Elijah. Learning that even on my deathbed I only was second choice."

Elijah released her with a groan and turned aside. "Niklaus is my family, he needed my help. If I wasn't there for him, who else would be? I couldn't let him down."

"Hey." Katerina grabbed Elijah's hands, forcing him to face her. "We've had this discussion way too often. Not now, okay? Let's wait with that until I'm strong enough to break your neck when you're annoying. I only answered your question and I think, you wanted to ask something else."

"Fine." Elijah sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Back then, what did you think of in the gardens?"

"Do you know why I came to England in the first place?" Katerina asked instead of answering directly.

"I learned that your father wished to marry you to some English noblemen", Elijah stated, looking confused.

"That's barely the full story." Katerina shook her head. "When I was sixteen, I met Hristo. He was an adventurer who already travelled half Eastern Europe and spent the winter in our village. My father disliked him at the very first moment which made it only more exciting. He was a Traveller, like my father, and I guess that was the reason he rejected him. Father hated magic and I never saw him practise any nor did he explain anything to me or my sister what we could do with those powers if we only discovered and trained them. Anyway, Hristo courted me and silly girl that I was, I believed he truly loved me."

"Did he hurt you?" Elijah's voice was quiet, but so only more dangerous. Almost as if he would travel back in time to kill this man himself. It made Katerina smile briefly.

"Not in the way you may think. I let him in my bed by choice." She grew quiet for a moment, dwelling in memories. "Some weeks later I noticed I hadn't bled. Of course mother knew what was going on, but she agreed not to tell Father so I could talk with Hristo first. He didn't remember promising to take me with him when he would leave nor that he would marry me. He even denied having ever slept with me. The next day he was gone. Father was furious and I think he would have beaten me bloody if Deniza hadn't stepped in. My little sister was a sweet thing but she never knew when to be silent. She caught a lot of what was reserved for me, but she never cried once. Mother finally stepped in to get Deniza outside; she wasn't the one who had disgraced the family."

Elijah didn't comment, only gently squeezed her hand to encourage her. He sensed that there wasn't anything he could have said. Back then it had been a terrible thing if a girl gave herself to a man before the wedding night. Still, he couldn't imagine the Katerina he knew to do anything else that she wanted to. Stubbornness seemed to be an essential part of her even then.

"So I got locked-in while I carried the child to terms", Katerina continued. "It was the most terrifying night I ever lived to see, but eventually my daughter was born. She was beautiful and crying at the top of her lungs. My father snatched her away before I got to hold her once and sent me on a ship towards England."

Elijah gently pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. "I am sorry. It must have been terrible for you and you never once said a word. Keeping such a thing a secret must have been anything but easy. Did you look for her after you fled?"

"Yes. I found my family and the rest of the village slaughtered, but I knew Father hadn't given her to any family there. So I searched on. I never found her. I could only hope that she was alive and well and loved." Katerina paused, leaning into Elijah's touch. She had missed him. Since he left her in Willoughby there hadn't been a day where she hadn't been thinking about him. Wondering if he had been missing her, too. "As it came to be, she was raised by Hristo and his wife. I don't know how my Father found him, but at least he was noble enough to take care of his child."

"How do you know? I thought you didn't find her?" Now Elijah was confused. Had Katerina used one of her many contacts? Someone who knew someone who knew someone? Or did she consult a witch to answer those questions?

Katerina smiled the tiniest bit. "I didn't. But she found me a few weeks past. And I think she turned out great. I only held a shotgun once but I can understand why she likes firearms."

Realisation slowly hit him and Elijah blinked in surprise. "Nadia? Nadia is your daughter?"

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 **Well, now the cat's out of the bag. What do you think, how will it work out? For all those who are looking for smut in this story: for the next chapter I planned some hot moments between Katerina and Elijah (now that Nadia is out of the house *cough*). So let me know what you think of this chapter, some reviews usually spur my muse on ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N So, here we go. The chapter you all (or seemingly most of you) have waited for. It took me a while since it is my first piece of smut and I wanted to satisfy your needs (no pun intended). Hope you like it.**

 **Guest 1: Yeah, I don't like her either, but Nadia knows how to deal with her ;)**

 **Guest 2: I'm glad you liked it and here is the requested update. Have fun reading it.**

 **Tina: Thank you. Here is the update including the promised smut. Let me know what you think. **

**Katrova: I'm sorry xD But it kinda flatters my ego that you wanted to read on immediately. Sorry the update took a while, but here it is. ****Concerning the relationship between Elijah and Nadia we do have the same opinion. It could take some time, but there will be enough family feels to drown in ;)**

 **Guest 3: I hope it's filthy enough for your taste ;)**

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It was evening when Katerina and Elijah sat in the salon with some ordered Italian food. After her revealing Nadia's identity he hadn't said another word concerning this topic, but Katerina knew him well enough to know that he was turning her words in his mind over and over again. "It bothers you, doesn't it?" she eventually asked smilingly, twisting her fork between the pasta and looking at Elijah.

"She is your daughter and I treated her not better than Niklaus would have. So yes, it bothers me", Elijah admitted, putting his wine aside. "You could have told me and spare me some embarrassing moment. But I would like to know her if Nadia doesn't object. I only fear that my chances are rather small, after what I said to her."

"Yes, I could have." Katerina laughed softly. "But it would've only been half the fun."

"Do you know what kind of jewellery she likes?" Elijah's voice almost sounded innocently.

Katerina laughed. "Oh no, you're not gonna bribe her. You'll have to do it the old way: with your charms. And don't worry, I'll help you. Although the reason has little to do with altruism." Under Elijah's curious glances she put her dish aside and sat next to him on the sofa. "I want to ask if you would look after her when I'm dead. Nadia is strong but she can be very emotional. If something would happen to me, she could make some very dangerous decisions. Last time I tried to kill myself she slapped me. And it hurt. Badly."

"You tried to kill yourself? Why?" Tentatively Elijah laid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

Katerina let him. It felt good to feel his body on hers and for a moment she simply enjoyed it. "Someone told me that I was dying and I wanted to die on my terms. So I climbed the clock tower in Mystic Falls – which was a task of its own – after I left a note for her, explaining me. And then I fell. I felt free, weightless, and although I feared the impact, it was too late. And I knew it all would be over once I met the ground. No more pain, no more dying. How could I have a clear conscience if my daughter had to watch me die after we just found each other? It would be better if I were gone quickly. But Stefan caught me. I don't know why he was there, but he simply told me to suck it up." She smiled at the memory. Only then had she fully realised that Stefan was a true friend to her.

Elijah stiffened. There he was again. Stefan. The boy who always seemed to be the first, but he wasn't. Elijah had met Katerina way earlier, had come to know her true self. At least that's what he liked to think of. Although he had to be thankful Stefan told him about Katerina's situation. Otherwise he would never have heard of it. Or worse, he would have tried to get hold of her only to learn that she was already dead.

"What's up?" Katerina asked, straightening up a little.

"Nothing. It is just that Stefan seems to occupy a huge part in your life. And perhaps also in your heart?" The latter was more a question than a statement, said with such vulnerability that Katerina raised her eyebrows in astonishment.

"Oh my god, you're jealous! Are you serious?" She would have almost laughed if it wasn't for the look in Elijah's eyes. "It's Stefan we're talking about. Yes, I loved him once and he is a nice guy, but that's it. He's a friend, not a friend-friend."

"He was enough a friend-friend as you called it for you to sleep with him, wasn't he?" Elijah took a deep breath. "I'm not judging you at-"

"Yes, you are, Elijah." Katerina brought some distance between herself and Elijah to turn around and face him. Still, she couldn't decide if to laugh or to cry. "I slept with Stefan. So what? It wasn't the first time I did it and presumably neither the last. I am a woman and as I recall you ended our relationship in Willoughby. What was I supposed to do, join a convent? I would have rather died. And don't tell me you weren't with any other women. No, better don't tell me, really. It could be that I would try to kill them."

Elijah slightly tilted his head to one side and felt the softness of a stray of her hair. "So there would be no reason for you to not again join Stefan? None at all?"

"Well, I guess I could think of one. You should know him. Nice hair, impeccable taste, roughly twice as old as me and childish, when he thinks himself unwatched."

"That would be your reason? Me renewing our relationship. Is that right?"

"Only if you are tired of chasing me, my lord", Katerina replied playfully and laughed again when Elijah quickly laid her with her back on the sofa. She pulled him nearer, near enough that she could feel his body against hers, near enough that she could almost kiss him. "There is no need to envy Stefan. He is no match to you. Never will be."

"Stop talking of that boy already", Elijah muttered and leaning down for a kiss, which Katerina deepened by pulling him further down.

It was odd. Just as her body would remember his touch better than her brain was doing. Automatically she arched her back, grasping the base of his neck with one hand while her other was trying to get the jacket off of his shoulders. It would have been much easier if she could have simply shred the cloth to pieces but her strength didn't suffice. Elijah broke the kiss long enough to take the jacket off before again he indulged in the kiss. Meanwhile Katerina's hands worked on the buttons of his immaculate shirt only to run them over the skin of his torso.

Elijah gave her blouse a short shrift and simply ripped the fabric apart. Admiring he contemplated the view before him. Katerina's chest was rising and falling heavily, her cheeks were flushed. Again he leaned in for a kiss, softer, calmer this time. "I missed you", he managed to get out. "I should have taken you with me. There would have been a way-"

"Shush, not now." Katerina smiled softly, retracing the line of his lips with her index before placing her legs around his waist. She needed this. Although she really didn't want to know if he had been with any other women, she could hardly imagine otherwise. He was handsome, but he wasn't the type for scoring someone only for the fun of it. No, that would be something more Klaus. But she couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that she wasn't the only woman he had thought about the last weeks.

Quickly she decided to not think about any further right know. Instead her hands worked on the button of his dress pants while Elijah peeled off his shirt. He was caught off guard as Katerina tried to switch positions, so he rumbled to the ground with enough presence of mind to wrap his arms around the fragile woman. Grinning she lied on top of him, propping herself on one of her forearms and tracing with her other hand imagined lines on his bare chest.

"Why don't we move this to the bedroom where we have enough room?" Elijah suggested with a breathless laughter. "It would be a pity to ignore this huge bed."

"We won't be doing it were Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn had their fun", Katerina scolded chuckling. "I don't want you to execute me at the end. My head look pretty where it is, thank you very much."

"That won't happen." Elijah's promise was solemn and he held Katerina tight while speeding to his chamber. She took advantage of her position, nibbling at his earlobe and whispering sweet promises into his ear.

After reaching his room he let her glide back to the ground, making sure she found her feet. Katerina pushed him slightly against the chest to move him backwards, until he hit the edge of the enormous bed and sat down. Katerina knelt before him and working his jeans open so his erection could spring free. Slowly she stroked him, watching his facial expressions with wary eyes, before she took him into her mouth, gently sucking on his tip.

Elijah enjoyed it for a while before he had to interrupt. "Don't be such a tease", he gasped, before he grabbed her and threw her onto the mattress. He took his time while freeing her from her jeans, kissing every inch he bared. Every time Katerina grew impatient and wriggled under his grip he interrupted his ministrations and looked sternly at her, until she capitulated again and let him move on. Once Elijah tossed her jeans to the floor, Katerina sat up and pulled him in for a bruising kiss. With only one move he had her bra opened and gently pulled her panties down, testing the wetness between her legs. His other hand kneaded her breast, teased her already hardened nipple. Elijah used his mouth to stimulate her other breast; he wouldn't want to feel any part of her neglected.

"Elijah", Katerina panted, her cheeks already flushed. Elijah parted from her only to position himself between her opened legs, which Katerina again wrapped around his waist. With one last look he made sure that Katerina still didn't object and when she nodded eagerly he slowly entered her. The sensation nearly overwhelmed him so Elijah buried his face at her shoulder, breathing heavily. Katerina pulled him nearer at the base of his neck to kiss him again and started to move her hips to encourage him further. Elijah began with slow, shallow thrusts but it had been too long since he last was with her. He could feel his climax drawing nearer. The thrusts grew harder, deeper and he used his thumb to stimulate Katerina further. Her inner muscles started fluttering, her grip around his back and shoulders tensed.

Elijah could smell her blood pulsating under the thin layer of skin, heated up by her arousal. Katerina saw the look on his face, the blood rushing in the veins beneath his eyes. "Do it", she gasped, leading him towards her neck. "I trust you, do it."

The original thought a lot of his composure but right then he couldn't have guaranteed for anything. Swiftly he had opened her vein, shallow enough that the blood would flow but she wouldn't bleed to death. A throaty moan escaped Katerina's lips as the sensation pushed her over the edge. Elijah followed close, remained inside her while licking over the two little wounds before he rolled over and pulled her to his chest.

"I am sorry", Elijah said quietly, stroking her hair and her back. "I don't know what came over me."

"I think it's called passion." Katerina grinned and kissed him softly, while her hands innocently stroked the skin of his stomach, causing his muscles there to clench. "And I have no objections. Otherwise I wouldn't have told you, so don't worry." She climbed onto him and straddled his lap. "What do you think of a second round?"

It was way past midnight when Katerina laid her head on Elijah's torso and tried to catch her breath. "You did miss me, right?"

"Of course, my dear." Elijah smiled and gently stroked her back. He had missed her and all the more he enjoyed holding her in his arms right now. He really wanted to take her with him to New Orleans. Niklaus had given his go, now he only had to convince Katerina to trust him. Again. He knew he would have to talk with her about that, but he refused to do it now. Elijah felt calm and relaxed; something he experienced quite rarely.

Elijah put a strand of her hair away from her neck and suspiciously eyed the little wounds, which yet stopped bleeding. "You are sure my blood would not heal you? Not even a few drops? I did not intend to hurt you and Nadia could try to kill me, if she smells your blood."

"I'm gonna explain it to her", Katerina promised not without rolling her eyes. "Even if she might not want to hear why you bit me. And yes, I am sure. I tried to drink Caroline's blood after this Quetsiyah bitch needed my blood for some sort of spell to defeat Silas, but I chucked it up right afterwards."

"I do not want to belittle Miss Forbes, but she is far from an original. She was turned with Damon's blood, correct? So between her and the original, who sired her line, there are a lot of others. Damon. You. Rose-Marie. Mary Porter. And eventually Niklaus. Maybe her blood was too thin to suffice", Elijah thought out loud.

Katerina raised an eyebrow. "Original Exceptionalism, huh? We can try if you don't mind me ruining your sheets. Although I guess we already did." Her smirk grew a little bit dirty with her words.

Elijah did not comment on that but bit in his wrist so the blood pooled and he hold it out so Katerina could drink from it. Tentatively she grabbed his arm and latched onto the wound to suck cautiously. As a human the blood tasted weird, but she pushed this thought aside. She could practically feel how Elijah's blood mixed with hers, flowed through her body and reached every little fibre. After only a few little gulps she let go again and waited for the stomach upset she knew would follow. It didn't.

"The wounds heal. Slowly", Elijah remarked quietly and watched her face. "How are you feeling?"

Katerina waited before she answered to ensure how she really felt. "Okay, I think. At least not sick. Should that have been the answer right from the beginning? To drink your blood?" She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. Should everything really been that easy? A few drops of Elijah's blood, dying and waking up again as a vampire?

Before anyone could comment further on this theory, Katerina felt her stomach roiling and jumped out of bed. Just in time she reached the toilet bowl of Elijah's bathroom before she spit blood. Elijah was close behind and knelt beside her on the cool tiles to hold back her hair as she bent over. Soothingly his free hand moved on her back while her body shook with the effort to get rid of his blood.

Finally Katerina set back, closed her eyes and took in a shaky breath. Elijah's touch vanished for a moment, than he was again at her side, a glass of water in one hand. "Here." Katerina looked at him thankfully and took the glass. The water was chilled and washed the sickening taste away.

"You shouldn't have seen this", she said, her voice scratchy, but nevertheless leaned into Elijah's embrace, after flushing the toilet. The wounds on her neck had broken up again and smeared part of her skin with blood. With a wet towel Elijah wiped it away.

Reassuringly he kissed her hair and held her tight. "Don't worry about that. I have seen worse, you know? I am only sorry that my blood is not the solution to your problem. It would have been much easier." He helped her stand and when her legs started shaking, he simply picked her up and carried her back to the bed, where she cradled on his side. "You should try to sleep." Elijah continued to caress her soft skin to make her feel more comfortable.

"You don't tell Nadia, do you? She would only worry." Katerina wanted to keep things like that from her daughter. She knew Nadia feared to soon lose her again but since she didn't want to switch into someone else's body, there was no way if this witch didn't find an answer. It would do no good to tell her from this incident.

"No", Elijah answered after considering his reply for a moment. "Not if I do not have to. But if she rips my head off because I lied to her considering your health status, you will have to answer for that." His voice was not half as serious as his words and he even managed a little smile, even if he could not dub his sorrows.

Katerina saw it plain on his face. "Don't think about it now. We still have a lot of time we can use together. There will be a time to sing the blues, promise." With Elijah's perfume in her nose she closed her eyes, cuddling close to him. Despite her earlier words she didn't even want to think about saying goodbye. If only she could stay with him, spend her life with him. With him and Nadia.

Elijah listened to her regular breathing while he himself lied widely awake. Once again it sunk in that Katerina's life was short measured. Every time he had lost her it broke his heart; he didn't knew if he would recover again. One reason more to do everything he possibly could to save her life. After this evening he could at least be sure she would not return to Stefan. A thought which managed to raise an honest smile.

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 **Well, what do you think? I'm a little bit insecure wether to write out the future smut-scenes or just skip them. I would leave it up to you, since you guys are the ones who would read it ;) Please let me know what you think, so I can continue writing as fast as possible.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Little behind schedule, but I hope you like it. With my holiday job I don't have that much time to write but I try to stick with my weekly update.**

 **Guest1: I'm glad you like it and that you love the story. It's always good to here that people like what I write.**

 **geminigurl89: Thank you. Yes, even an original is not immune concerning jealousy ;)**

 **Guest2: Good to know ;) And don't worry, Kat won't die... permanently.**

 **ElijahsKaterina: Thank you. I guess filthy is kind of flexible. Generally I think I could go deeper, but I'm not used to writing smut. It's kind of difficult for me, but I'll try to fit in more of it.**

 **Kalijah: Yes, I love them, too. Wished there had been more in the series, so don't thank me for writing, but thank you for reading and commenting ;)**

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"We are back!" Nadia announced while closing the door und pushing Maisie to the salon. Clattering sounds coming from the kitchen had her listening up. "You stay here and start reading those books. Better read fast." She didn't even notice the witch nodding as she started her way towards the sounds.

What she saw let her stop short. Elijah stood at the oven, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, and handled a pan from which the smell of baked eggs arouse. He must have heard her steps for he turned around and nodded a greeting. "You were fast. Can I offer you a breakfast? I fear I am no chef, but the eggs look good enough. For the next days we should engage someone professional, so that Katerina and Maisie won't starve."

Nadia blinked a few times before she managed a response. "No, thank you." She didn't know why he suddenly acted nice towards her and she neither knew if she should like it or not. It made her slightly suspicious. "Where is Katerina?"

"Upstairs and still sleeping. I wanted to wake her when breakfast is ready." He put the spatula aside and looked at Nadia. "She told me who you are. I cannot imagine how the last days and weeks must have been for you and I am very sorry that I treated you that way. It was not my intention, but this whole situation… I am a little on edge. So I would like to ask your forgiveness."

"Wait, she… she told you? Why? Why now? Just yesterday she put me off, telling me she would talk to you someday." Nadia was only partly furious. She was scared, if and how her relationship to her mother would change and she also was kind of relieved, to finally be able to call her mother even in Elijah's presence.

Elijah shrugged ever so slightly, a movement which seems too leger for him. "Maybe she thought it the right time. Even if I fancy myself to know Katerina, she still manages to be a mystery for me. Either way, I know the both of us did not have the right start and I want you to know that your mother is very important to me. You clearly mean a lot to her and the relationship between parent and child is a very strong one. Still, I would like to share her life until she drives me away. You belong into her life and I would like to get along with you. Mostly to spare her the pain of watching us fight. So if there is anything you would like to know: ask me." It seemed a rather long speech and Elijah did look uncomfortable as he cleared his throat, turned to the eggs and changed down the oven.

Nadia stood baffled and looked at his back. This was not how she imagined it to be, but she wouldn't be a Petrova if she wouldn't use the chance. "Did you kill my family back then in Bulgaria after my mother fled? Did you help Klaus slaughter my grandparents and my aunt?"

"No." Elijah put the pan aside and again looked at Nadia. He couldn't believe he didn't see the similarities between the two of them. The hair, the face and especially the eyes. The way Nadia hold herself upright and the way she walked. But before he stared too much he remembered her question. "But I didn't hold him back, either. Niklaus did not know where Katerina's childhood home was, so he simply started at the beginning of the village. I stood aside, knowing that it wouldn't do anything good, if I tried to stop him. There was a girl. Younger than Katerina at that time but her face all the more familiar. It must have been her sister. I tried to bring her to safety, bring her away from slaughter and flames. But she screamed when I took her so Niklaus became aware of what I tried to do. He knocked me off and… killed her." The memory was far too vivid to forget even the tiniest detail. Niklaus ripping her heart out and drinking her blood in this chamber that had to be the parent's room.

Nadia's expression was blank as Elijah told his story. She was relieved that he did not help kill her family. A family she never learned to know. "What happened after that night?" Her voice was quiet but her eyes never left the older vampire. She wanted to know him as good as possible, since her mother decided to give him another chance.

"Niklaus kept me in a box several decades. A treatment he is still very fond of, if any of his siblings annoyes him. When he again released me, I tried to find Katerina. Not to bring her to my brother, of course. I wanted to help her. I knew very well how confusing everything could be when you just turned. But I was not able to find her. You cannot imagine what ways I tried to locate her but every time I had a valid hint and got there, she was already gone. It drove me mad." The ghost of a smile played around his lips. "But I cannot blame her. I just wish until today she had trusted me enough to be sure that I would not let her die in some ritual."

"She does trust you today", Nadia said and shrugging slightly. "Otherwise she would have you thrown right out of her sickroom. I wanted her to use a spell which would have transferred her spirit into another body. She refused. Allegedly it was because Stefan liked her body, but I rather think it was because of you. She wouldn't risk being turned down by you."

"Why should I turn her down? Because she would look different?" Elijah blinked in surprise. Even after nearly one thousand years, women still managed to baffle him. Katerina would still have been herself, wouldn't she? Of course he thought her body attractive but it was her personality that he had learned to love.

Nadia shrugged again. "I never said I really understand her. And even if I also would like to refrain from fighting, there is something you should know: I don't care about your history, but if you hurt my mother again – and I do not differ between physically and emotionally – I will hunt you down and kill you. Original vampire or no. Do we have an agreement?"

Elijah slightly bowed his head in respect. "You would have every right to do so. Even if I hope that it won't be necessary." He poured the eggs on a plate and put it on a tray, where a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice already waited. "I will tell Katerina that you returned. We will join you soon. Please help yourself if you need anything. If you do not want human breakfast, there should be several blood bags in the refrigerator." And with that he left her behind. Elijah did not intend to bring her into his room, where a still naked Katerina lied between the crumbled sheets. It was a world that belonged only to the two of them. Elijah opened the door quietly and instantly closed it behind him again. The tray he put on the bedside table and sat down on the mattress, before he stroked her hair.

With a groan Katerina opened her eyes and blinked against the lightness before she recognised Elijah. "Morning", she mumbled and smiled, reaching for his hand. "Why are you already awake?"

"I made breakfast. Don't worry, it will be the only time while we are staying here. I will look for a chef so you do not get a food poisoning. Besides, Nadia already returned with Maisie. I met her in the kitchen." Elijah intended to work on his relationship to Nadia so Katerina would not have to worry about them. Moreover it would make his time with Katerina much easier.

"You made breakfast?" Katerina struggled to sit up and eyed the eggs suspiciously until she shot Elijah an amused smile. "Well, as long as you say it is safe. Thank you."

"I also talked to Nadia about your relationship. She seemed surprised."

"Oh, you already had the weird talk of mother's lover to lover's daughter? How did it go?" Katerina asked curious while tasting the eggs. Not bad for someone who hadn't have to eat.

Elijah shrugged his shoulders. "She threatened me. After how she talked to Maisie yesterday I did not expect anything else. But we will get along, I hope. We barely know a thing of each other, so I guess we will take our time."

"Do that. Don't worry, Nadia won't kill you unless you give her a reason. She's my daughter after all." Katerina kissed Elijah reassuringly, after she put the empty plate aside. "It was good. I'm going to shower but you can join me, if you like. I do like you in a suit but naked you're all the more gorgeous."

"I'm honoured", Elijah answered with an amused smile. "But I fear that if I choose to accompany you, we will not make it downstairs anytime soon." He kissed her pout and stood up, holding out his hand to help her out of bed. "Shall I bring you some of your clothes? I do have a bathrobe here but I think it inappropriate to wander the floors half-naked."

"There are no other men who could see me like that", Katerina laughed, laid her arms around his neck and pressed her body flush against his. "And for the next time there will be no other men, either. But if you insist, you can of course bring me something decent to wear. Even if I would rather have you with me in the shower. And we still have tonight, don't we?" She smirked seductively, pulled Elijah in for a long, deep kiss and strutted towards the bathroom, where she left the door ajar.

Elijah smiled to himself and crossed the floor to enter Katerina's room, where he shuffled through her clothes. The clothes that were paid with his credit card. Though they were first-class still he thought about buying her some clothes that would be more fitting in New Orleans. For now, they would have to do. Elijah chose a pair of dark jeans and a berry-coloured blouse. It cost him quite an effort to take a look into the drawer with her underwear. It wasn't suitable for a man to rummage around in a ladies wardrobe. To take the smallclothes off of her body, yes. But this… Quickly Elijah picked something and brought everything back to his room. He seemed to have taken quite a while because Katerina already waited there, one towel slung around her slender body and one in her hands to dry her hair. The bite marks on her neck had started to heal at human pace but were still visible.

Katerina noticed his gaze as he laid the clothes on the bed. "I'll explain it to Nadia before she can scratch your eyes out." She dropped the smaller towel and touched Elijah's arm. "You're not again blaming yourself for biting me, do you? I don't reproach you with it. We were both overwhelmed and-"

"Still. I should have been more careful now that you are human." Elijah gingerly laid his hand on her cheek. "I tend to forget even if I hear your human heartbeat. I hope it won't happen again."

"What? Should I keep a white oak stake at the bedside? Don't make a fool of yourself." Gently Katerina kissed him to reassure him that she was everything but mad at him. Then she turned away, peeled off the towel and grasped her underwear. "By the way, your phone rang. I just came out of the shower and I was too slow. Don't know if it was something important."

"I'll look into it", Elijah said while taking the tray and his phone, quickly checking the caller. "Nadia already awaits you in the salon. I will join you later."

"Don't make me wait too long, my lord", Katerina called after him just before he closed the door.

. 

"You tried to call me?" Elijah simply said after he dialled the number. He was in the gardens, not wanting to have Katerina ear dropping on him.

"Yes. You just went away, Klaus rubbed it under my nose only tonight. Where are you and when are you coming back? You promised to protect the baby and me from the witches here", Hayley reminded him. Desperation was in her voice, but the anger overweight.

Elijah pinched the back of his nose and let out a sigh. "I know what I promised, Hayley. I will be true to my word, but at first I need to help someone whom I promised to protect many years ago. Within three weeks I will be back in New Orleans, if everything goes according to plan."

"But the witches-"

"Niklaus is able to protect his own child, he does not need my help with that", Elijah interrupted impatiently. "Diplomacy, yes, but not when it comes to fighting. And you are a strong, fierce woman. When I am back, I will take care of the witches, but for now you will have to take your chances with my brother and Rebekah." He raised an eyebrow when Hayley hung up without another word. He couldn't help it. Katerina had first priority. He liked Hayley and wanted to help her, but not if it meant to abandon Katerina to her fate.

With a sigh he turned around to make his way back to the castle only to face Nadia. She eyed him suspiciously and had her arms crossed. "Who is Hayley?" she finally asked.

"A friend. Former girlfriend of my brother, to be exact. She is in a rather precarious situation at the moment and fears some witches to cause her harm. I promised to protect her, but that was before I knew that Katerina was dying." Elijah saw no reason in lying to Nadia; he had to earn her trust and if she found out he had lied to her, everything would have been for naught.

"And how exactly did Klaus manage to knock someone up? He's a vampire after all."

"It seems to have to do with the fact that Niklaus is half werewolf." Elijah shrugged. "Since he is the only one of a kind, there are no reliable sources. Is Katerina already with Maisie?" He could sense that Nadia was not satisfied with the information given and he feared, she could ask more about Hayley. Not that he had anything to hide, but one never knew.

"Yeah. On our little journey I told her that she would regret it, if she killed mother. Won't care if deliberately or not." Nadia couldn't emphasize enough that she would do anything to protect Katerina and if she failed to do so she would go to any lengths to revenge her death.

Elijah smiled gently. "If Maisie is only half as good as her ancestor, it will work out. Otherwise I would not have asked for her help. If you want to, we could ask another witch. I know one in New Orleans. Still very young, but nevertheless able to handle powerful vampires. Come. Let's see if Maisie found something out." He led Nadia back to the castle, one hand gingerly lying on her lower back. Nadia shied away from his touch and quickened her pace. Elijah let her. He could only hope that someday she would believe him that he would neither hurt her nor Katerina. It only would make his life a lot easier if Nadia and he could get along.

In the salon Katerina and Maisie sat across from each other, looking at one another suspiciously while acting very busy. Katerina looked up as the French door creaked softly and patted the plush cushion of the sofa beside her. Elijah let Nadia enter first so she could choose where she wanted to sit. Not that he didn't want to be near Katerina, but it seemed more important that mother and daughter spend time with each other.

"Did you brought what you needed?" Elijah asked Maisie and took a seat in a chair at the long side of the coffee table.

Maisie shrugged. "I hope so. I'll see what I can do, but Joan's handwriting wasn't the most legible. She created a lot of potions and spells; it's fascinating. Don't worry, I won't be distracted. It's not like I read this the first time." She turned over some pages and nodded eventually. "This it could be. I will need some time to be sure what she wrote so you won't have to sit around and watch me."

"It's not like there would be much to do else, right?" Katerina chipped in. "The earlier you've finished, the earlier I'm gonna sleep well again."

"Yeah, last night you seem to have gotten quite a little amount of sleep. Surely it doesn't has to do something with those bite marks", Nadia muttered quietly enough for only Elijah to hear without looking at him. The original at least seemed to redden at her words, but otherwise his face remained stoic. Katerina looked him over suspiciously but said nothing.

"Well, I'm sure the three of you will find something to do while I try to save your life." Maisie scrambled up, packing her thinks together and looking at Elijah when she said: "I'm going to the library. Pretty sure somewhere in this castle has to be one. If I find something, I'll let you know." With those words she left the room.

Katerina scoffed. "I really don't like her. She's the worst and I met a lot of witches. More than enough for the rest of my lifetime."

"Do not forget that technically you are a witch yourself, my dear", Elijah reminded her and managed a half-smile.

"Travellers are some kind of subculture; I don't think they count as real witches. Besides, I never learnt to discover or even use my skills. Maybe, the gene skipped my generation."

"You know it's not true", Nadia said sternly. "You could have already saved yourself. I told you what to do and what to say; it's one of the most basic spells. The one why we are called Traveller."

Katerina stood up and started walking around. "Not this again, Nadia, don't you dare. I made my choice. Live with it."

"And you're gonna die with it, that's it." Nadia grew louder and Elijah tried to calm her by laying on hand gently on her shoulder. This time she didn't shook it off. "You could already be in someone else's body. For all I care even Elena's body, if your appearance means so much to you. We wouldn't have to bother with some witch. But you didn't because you were scared. Of what, I ask? That Elijah wouldn't look at you again, when you look different?"

Instead of answering Katerina started to redden.

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "That was your reason for not to seize a chance to live on? The fear that I couldn't love you anymore? That's ridiculous, Katerina."

"Well, maybe I is ridiculous." Katerina chose attack rather than defence. "But admit it or not, you only grew attentive of me because I looked like Tatia. If I had looked completely different you would never have noticed me. If I-"

"But you did look different", Elijah interrupted, taking his hand from Nadia's shoulder and slowly started walking towards Katerina, hands raised as if showing that he was unarmed. "Let me talk out. It may be that Tatia also had brown hair and brown eyes and a similar face. But you look different. The way you walk, the way you talk and the way you are: that's you, Katerina. No one else does those things like you do. Neither Tatia nor Elena. Do you understand me?" He tentatively reached for her but made no attempt to touch her.

"Remember, you yourself always call Elena the boring doppelgänger. If she's not like you, why should Tatia?" Nadia's voice was quiet. It hurt her to see her mother torn apart between her love to Elijah and the thought to never be enough. Not for the Salvatores and not for Elijah.

Katerina tried to look serious but a little smile managed its way on his lips. "Since when are you allowed to use my words against me?" A sigh barely audible escaped her. "I was stupid thinking like that, right? But both of you have to admit that it wasn't that far-fetched."

"You have no reason at all to be self-conscious, Katerina", Elijah reassured her with a smile and gently touched her cheek. "You are one of a kind, even as a doppelgänger. You have a wonderful daughter who would even try to kill an original. And you have an original wrapped around your little finger."

"It wouldn't remain an attempt, Elijah." Nadia winked playfully at Elijah and joined the pair in front of the French doors. "Look, why don't the two of you go in for something and I try to find someone who can actually cook. Tonight we could sit here together. And talk. If Elijah is about to spend the rest of your life with you, I better learn to know him. If only to know how to persuade him. Although I can do without knowing why he bit you."

Elijah gave her a look that was more caring than it might should have been at this point, but it was absolutely honest. "You would only have to ask, Nadia. As Katerina's daughter, why should I deny you anything? But I am in. It has to be centuries since the last evening I truly spent quality time with someone. And no, last night does not count, Katerina", he added quickly as Katerina opened her mouth.

"Maybe I can persuade you to consider our time as quality time, too, while Nadia is searching for a chef." Katerina grinned at him and tucked at his collar to pull him in for a soft kiss. "Then until tonight for some quality time. And we are going back to your chamber, my lord."

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 **Since those who commented seemed to be quite satisfied with the smut part I probably won't skip it. Still, it is not the main part of this story, so do not expect smut in every chapter. Although in the next there could again appear some... ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N I am really, really sorry. It took an awful long time to write this chapter but muse was a real bitch. Anyway, I hope you like it. Since the last chapter got none reviews at all, I assume most of you didn't like it. That's okay, really, you don't have to like every single chapter. But please let me know if there is something I can change. I want you to enjoy this story, not to force your way through it. By letting me know what bothered you, you're not only helping me, but yourself as well ;)**

* * *

Katerina straddled Elijah's lap and again let him slide into her. Gently she rocked her hips against him, kissing him breathlessly while his hands roamed her body and caressed her breasts. Elijah pulled free from the kiss and started kissing her jaw line, the skin over her throat and finally the valley between her breasts.

Katerina closed her eyes and let herself carry away for a moment. Then she pushed against his chest, showing him to lay down. Only reluctantly he let go of her and leaned back until his back hit the crumbled sheets on the mattress. His hands wandered to her hips and he groaned as she wriggled on top of him to adjust to this new position. Tantalizingly slow she rose and sunk down again, grinning as Elijah grew impatient.

"Just enjoy for once", she chastised him, leaning forward to kiss him while her hips kept moving in this unhasty, hypnotizing way. "And don't you dare interrupt me."

"Oh, but I love the danger", Elijah responded, using his vampire speed to change positions so Katerina now lied in front of him. His hips started thrusting while lifting one of her legs up so she could wrap it around his waist. Instead of answering she threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled him in for a bruising kiss to smother her moans. His thrusts grew deeper, faster and all too soon Katerina felt the familiar tightening in her stomach.

"Elijah, please", she mumbled incoherently, meeting Elijah's every movement. Grabbing the headboard with his left hand for support, Elijah again increased his thrusts until he felt his own end nearing. Katerina came with a guttural moan and clung onto the original vampire as for dear life. He shuddered and followed suit. With a few more thrusts he helped Katerina riding out her climax before he pulled out and lied down beside her, propping up on one elbow.

Katerina tried to catch her breath, then she turned towards Elijah. "You're unbelievable."

A crooked smile appeared on his lips, as he stretched out to caress her cheek. "I know. It is an original thing." In silence he watched her a few moments, enjoying the sensation of her soft skin beneath his fingertips. "I love you, Katerina. Don't you ever run away again."

Katerina returned the smile, clasping her hand around his. "Are you scared you won't ever catch me again, my lord? I wonder how many ladies you've chased over the centuries."

"Only one", Elijah swore. "I was too occupied with finding you to run after other women's skirts. And now that I found you I do not intend to lose you again."

"There was no other woman all this time? Not even one? And that's while you're some handsome devil?" Katerina teased him and kissed every one of his fingertips. "I don't believe you."

"Do you really want to talk about former love interests? I would knew something better." Elijah freed his hand and shifted his position until he came to lie between Katerina's legs and started kissing her stomach.

"Please, mercy!" Katerina laughed breathlessly and slapped Elijah playfully at the chest. "I'm human and as much as I want to spend the rest of my life with you in a bed, but if we now start all over again, I fear I won't be able to walk the next few days."

Grinning Elijah lifted his head but remained in his position. "Pity. I would have had so much in mind."

"I'll take your word for it." Katerina rose into a sitting position and pulled Elijah in for a kiss. "But I did notice that you avoided to answer. Is it that bad? Was she another doppelgänger?"

Elijah, too, scrambled up into a sitting position, across from Katerina and took one of her hands in his, while he gently shook his head. "You are the only doppelgänger I ever shared my bed with. Elena is beyond all question; she is a girl, nothing more. And concerning Tatia… I was a noble fool back then, who would never dare to take a woman to bed before the wedding night."

"Some would say, you're a noble fool until today", Katerina commented with a crooked smile.

"Why do you always have to interrupt me?" Elijah chastised only half serious. "Anyway, at the beginning of the nineteenth century we were in New Orleans. There I met Celeste, a witch. Usually it was Kol, who was fond of witches but she lured me in. We spent a lot of time together and I came to fancy her. But as often my luck was short-lived. Niklaus rounded the witches up and I came too late; she was already dead."

"Seems to be a common trope: Klaus ruining your life. He really needs some hobbies." She wasn't sorry that Celeste died. Otherwise she would have to compete with that damn witch as well. No, Katerina was only sorry that Elijah had again lost someone, although it was some idiotic bitch-witch.

Elijah chuckled slightly. "Well, yes, until today no one dared tell him that. Celeste is long dead and those times are long gone. It happens to see people die, even those you love."

"Did you know that I was for a short period of time in New Orleans? After I had been in Mystic Falls", Katerina started telling. "I managed to escape the church before they burnt it down and went to New Orleans. Marcel needed some help strengthening his kingdom and it was a fun time. Only later I learned that Klaus had turned him."

"You helped Marcel? Don't let Niklaus know." Elijah sighed and pinched the back of his nose. "He is furious that Marcel took over after we left town and now refuses to give New Orleans back. If he would know that you helped Marcel… Let's assume it would be another hair in his soup."

Katerina grinned. "But I'm good at being the hair in his soup." She grew more serious again and took his hand to gently stroke it. "So, aside from Celeste, there really was no woman? All the time you searched for me? That's… impressive."

"You seem surprised." Elijah closed his eyes and enjoyed her ministrations.

"As I said, you're handsome enough that women had been wooing you on every step." She shrugged and smiled at him. "But somehow I'm glad you mostly lived like a monk. So I can have you all to myself."

"I rather not ask how many men have been in your bed since you ran away", Elijah commented dryly.

Katerina innocently fluttered her eyelids. "Honestly, I could not even name a number if you'd hold a pistol to my head."

"Well, that is way more information than I ever wanted to know." Elijah jumped from the bed and walked towards the bathroom door. With the hand on the doorknob he stopped and turned around. "You're coming?"

"Of course!"

"Where did you find this chef, Nadia? He's brilliant", said Katerina, using the last piece of baguette to dip up the sauce. "Can we take him home?"

"I'm sure I could convince him", Nadia laughed, swirling the red wine in her glass. "He works at a high-end restaurant in London. They already found someone to pitch in, so I guess they can do without him some time longer."

"I would have needed him when I was busy pillaging the Seven Seas."

Elijah as well as Nadia looked at her with surprise. Finally the former cleared his throat. "You acted as a pirate? When?"

Katerina shrugged her shoulders. "Sometime in the sixteen hundreds. It was fun, but the food could have been better. And with that I'm meaning human food and human as food. Although I had some of the hottest pirates in my crew."

"But why?" Nadia wanted to know, an exciting gleam in her eyes. "If you had been renowned Klaus would have found you more easily."

"No. He would have known about her more easily but it is difficult to find a ship offshore." Elijah regarded her with something like approval and leaned towards her to kiss her hair. "Quite smart. What made you quit this lifestyle?"

Katerina shrugged again. "As I said, the food was not the best. And it grew old. Most men didn't take me for full and I buried so much of this gold, I could buy half Australia. Well, maybe not, but it was plenty. I kept some pieces but I sunk my ship. It was too beautiful to let someone else have it."

"So you would ban Elijah to Arielle just so nobody else could have him?" Nadia grinned like a cheshire cat and put her plate aside.

"Arielle?" Elijah seemed confused. "I do not know any woman with this name."

"I'm sure about that. Or at least that you don't know the Arielle Nadia meant. It's a children's story about a mermaid. And no, I would not drown you. At least not for the reason that nobody else could have you." Katerina blinked innocently but neither doubted she would have her plan for that case.

"Have you ever been a pirate, Elijah?" Nadia decided to better change the subject. She knew her mother could be quite possessive, especially when it came to Elijah. No need to fuel those feelings.

Elijah smiled and shook his head. "No. I was born a Viking but seldom did we go to sea if it wasn't for fishing. My father was more a man of hunting although we kept our gods. I had been born on a ship and I had no desire to pose as a pirate after my transition. Niklaus, Rebekah and I more often interacted with the noble class. The French Revolution was quite agitating at its time."

Nadia nodded. "I was in Paris during that time but left before things got too nasty. I understood people's desire to fight for their rights, but it wasn't my battle. I left France and headed for America since I heard my mother was there."

"During the French Revolution?" Katerina squinted her eyes while trying to remember. "I think I was in New York, falling asleep while George Washington was inaugurated. Didn't make it to be First Lady but I guess I would just have been bored to death. Oh, and Jefferson brought a macaroni machine from Europe. Trust me, this guy absolutely knew what people wanted."

"Macaroni? Really?" Elijah smiled and gently squeezed her shoulder. "If I would have known that you are satisfied by the simpler things in life…"

"Cheese macaroni are one of the greater inventions of mankind", countered Katerina. "There is nothing better on cold winter days and as a vampire you don't have to count calories."

"Would you like some? I bet the chef would be in a snit but he would cook it either way", Nadia suggested but Katerina only smiled.

"No, it's fine. When did you come over the big pond? Right after the French Revolution started?"

Nadia considered the question for a moment. "I think it was spring seventeen hundred ninety-nine. Philadelphia. Wasn't easy to find someone who could describe you. You knew how to cover your tracks." She grimaced and pulled her feet underneath her.

"Yeah, but you did a better job than Klaus", Katerina commented with a smirk. "He was always one step behind, a little too slow. Aside from that one time when he caught me in that teacher's apartment. That was unfair, really."

"Well, I saw to it that Niklaus didn't find you." Elijah let the wine in his glass circle. "He was occupied with finding a useful doppelgänger. Since the revenge on you only was second to that, it fell into my scope of responsibility to shift through the reports of sightings of you. Niklaus got his information, but later than he should. I couldn't do much more to protect you because as Nadia observed: you were hard to find."

Katerina only smiled and thankfully squeezed his hand. She was glad he tried to keep Klaus from finding her. Maybe it hadn't only been her luck and survival instincts that kept her alive for so long. "I always wondered why he never caught me while having endless resources at his hands", Katerina remarked with a sly smile. "I have been a long time in Ireland for example. Bam Stoker was really kind to me. Showed me the natural beauty and introduced me to his friends. After he met me, he decided to write Dracula." She laughed softly.

"You told him about vampirism?" Elijah shook his head. "Why am I not surprised? But Dracula has so little in common with us, are you sure you inspired him?"

"Well, at least he thought about the three vampire ladies in Dracula's castle after we spent a night together", Katerina said while innocently fluttering her eyelids.

Ere Elijah could muster some sort of response, Maisie came bursting in, out of breath from running through the hallways and down the stairs. "I think I found something. It's just a footnote and I'm not sure at all if it works the way I think it does. Look, here." She laid the grimoire in the tiny coffee table and stabbed her finger at one passage that was scribbled at the margin. "There. The potion takes effect on every doppelgänger as long as they are human. Seemingly it doesn't care if there are other potions involved. This would mean, that she would wake up again the same age she had been when she was sucked dry. So as long as she gets killed with the potion in her system while she still looks like she does right now, she should wake up roughly the same age."

Maisie obviously gleamed about her discovery, but Nadia only crossed her arms. "Seemingly? Should? That seems a little vague to me, don't you think?"

"If you have another solution, feel free to share", Maisie snapped. "It's not like I'm here because I want to help, you know. So take what I can offer or not, I don't care."

"What about Niklaus?" Elijah chimed in, trying to avoid blood being spilled. "Does he has to be the one who kills Katherine? Or could anyone do that?" He trusted his little brother to keep his promise of not harming Katerina when he took her with him to New Orleans, but a nagging voice at the back of his head kept whispering, that Niklaus sure as hell would not make it a short death.

Maisie glowered one last time at Nadia before turning towards Elijah. "I guess not. She only has to be killed by someone who really wants to kill her. Who wants her to stay dead and not to come back. Someone with murder in his or her heart." The young witch shrugged. "If you have someone at your hands who hates her deeply, it would be kind of perfect."

"That would be the least of our problems", Katerina noted dryly and pulled the grimoire nearer to read the lines herself, but it was no language she could understand. She hated trusting a witch blindly. "What about turning me back into a vampire? Does your clever book tell you something about that?"

"Well… kind of", Maisie admitted hesitantly and sighed, when Katerina regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "The normal way won't work. Drinking a vampire's blood and dying. The effects of the Cure would still be coursing through your system, no matter what kind of potions and spells I can dig out. Once you took it, it never vanishes again."

"So there's only a human's life for me? A normal human life?" Anger crept in Katerina's voice. She would live, yes, but how long? Sixty years? Seventy? Maybe eighty? And then again she would be facing death, creeping nearer and nearer until he had her in his claws. Abruptly she shook Elijah's hand off her shoulder and stood up, pacing anxiously.

"I- I don't know", Maisie admitted, raising her hands helplessly. "It's just-"

"What about a spell to turn her?" Elijah interrupted, a determined glimmer in his eyes. "No vampire's blood but magic and only a few drops of blood to finish her transition."

Nadia looked at him in confusion, but Maisie seemed to get even smaller as if the weight of his suggestion was pushing her down. "I don't know such a spell. Maybe it could work since it would be direct magic and not adulterated as it would be through vampire blood, but I'm not sure. I never heard of such a spell. And even if we could dig up such a thing, I'm not powerful enough for it. It sounds like something really huge."

"It would be an enormous spell", Katerina remarked, nodding slightly at Elijah. "A spell worth of the Original Witch, am I right? Pity she's dead."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Nadia asked but nobody seemed to notice.

Elijah stood up, hands in his pocket. "Death does not necessarily erase knowledge. I need to make some calls. Maisie, would you be so kind as to look closer if a transformation would be possible? I don't care if through vampire blood or through a spell, although the first option would be a lot less difficult." He headed for the gardens but paused when he passed Katerina. "We will find a way", he muttered so low, that even Nadia needed to strain her ears to hear him. "I promised you to not let you die this time and I'm a man to keep my word. But you have to trust me."

"I do", Katerina simply answered and managed a little smile.

"Good. Why don't Nadia and you go to bed? It is late already and I do not know how long it will take." He softly kissed her on the cheek. "Sleep well. I will join you later." Then he vanished through the French doors and into the night.

* * *

 **Well, what do you think? I guess some of you could already think of what Elijah has in mind, right? ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N I am the worst person ever! First of all, thank you for your wonderful support. I am very sorry to not have updated for a while, but studying was a real bitch during the last months and I got kinda boisterous. Little piece of advice: don't try to learn two different new languages at the same time. It's not a good idea. Like, at all. But now I managed to finish another chapter and I hope you like it. I won't promise to update every week, but to do it more regularly.**

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They next few days were filled with a concentrated tension throughout the castle. Maisie was sitting over her books, trying desperately to find a solution for the transformation problem. Katerina and Nadia were going through list of names of Katerina's arch enemies to find someone fitting to kill her. People she had pissed off, people who had pissed off her. It was a rather long list, to be honest. Elijah made calls from the wee hours of the morning until the late evening, He did not spoke about the people he talked with, but every now and then even the calm Elijah would lose his temper so that his voice would grew louder and sound through the closed French Doors.

After lunch it was one of these moments again.

"I told you, Niklaus, I cannot return to New Orleans yet. I don't care if Marcel is rioting the streets, you are the goddamn original hybrid. It's not like back then when you needed an older brother." There was a short pause in which Elijah paced up and down outside of the French Doors. "Katerina is not forbidding me anything. I am here to solve this problem and I will not return before- Fine."

Katerina could him see pinching his nose and trying to calm himself before he came inside and joined her and Nadia at the coffee table. "Is everything alright?" she asked quietly just so that Klaus wouldn't hear her.

"He wants to talk to you", he simply said without answering, handing Katerina the phone.

Nadia and Katerina exchanged a quick glance before the latter took the phone, stood up and brought some distance between herself and the others to at least have the feeling of speaking in privacy. "What do you want from me?"

"Let's call it a favour, alright?" Klaus's voice sounded stressed as if he had had a hard time. Right now, Katerina couldn't care less. "I need Elijah to come back. Marcel has managed to build up a army of vampires and a witch works together with the wolves. I know you don't care about that, but that's not the worst thing right now. Somehow our mother managed to come back from the dead and even if I could fight both Marcel and the wolves, I alone have no chance against her."

"So why would that concern me?" Katerina asked, shifting her weight to one leg and frowning. "Elijah and I are perfectly save here and if Esther kills you, I would be one problem short, right? Give me one good reason, because my freedom is not enough in exchange to your life."

"You already have your goddamn freedom", Klaus growled through the phone. "Elijah blackmailed me so he could bring you with him after you solved your little aging problem. Besides, if Esther manages to kill Rebekah and me, who do you think she will hunt next. You cannot hide. Despite everything, I am an honest man; I wouldn't offer you something you already had. But what about your precious little daughter?"

Katerina froze and glanced over her shoulder to Nadia, who looked at her with a concern.

"You probably want to know how I know her. While I was looking for your village, I learned everything of you that was to learn. So I heard from your daughter. Of course I let her live, because after you had turned, your blood was useless. But if your bloodline carried on, there was a chance that another doppelgänger would be born. Well, like mother, like daughter, she also turned into a vampire, but again, I didn't kill her. She was almost as desperate to find you as I had been." Klaus paused for a while so Katerina could have time to process that information. "So, to return to the topic of question: I would grant you your daughter's freedom, if you'd send Elijah's noble ass right back to New Orleans. I'll await his call in one hour. A ticket for him will be lying at Heathrow. Good luck with your aging problem, Katerina." A beeping sound showed the disconnection.

Katerina stayed where she was, the phone still at her ear. Only gradually her hand sank.

"Katerina! What is wrong? What did Niklaus want of you?" Elijah gently seized her arm and shook her as if the bring her back. "Please, talk to me."

"You should go back to New Orleans", Katerina finally said, handing him the phone. "Klaus said something about your mother and he sounded serious. Go back and help him."

"I won't leave you alone", Elijah growled lowly. "Not if you're still not yourself. I swore to save you and that one time when I'm willing to put you over my family, you're sending me away!"

Katerina managed a little smile and gently laid her hand on his cheek. "I appreciate that. Really, I do. But if your supposedly dead mother starts making a mess, you need to stop her. For your siblings. For us. And he knows about Nadia. He grants me her freedom, too, if you're going. And the last reason, why you should go… I don't want to have you there, when I'm get killed to be a normal human again. I know you, Elijah. Could you stand idle while someone is snapping my neck? Or sucking me dry? I wouldn't want you to watch it." She kissed him reassuringly before taking a step back. "Look, Klaus wants you to call him the next hour. You go and play the good older brother while I'm taking care of letting myself get killed. If everything works just fine, I'll give you a call and follow you to New Orleans. If not… well, then you are free to kill the ass who killed me."

Elijah already opened his mouth in protest when Nadia barged in. "I'll take care of her. We're staying here a few days more so Maisie can find out some things more and then were getting rid of the remains of the cure. She'll be okay, I promise. "

The Original sighed. "I could try and reason with one stubborn Petrova, but two?" He shook his head and threw Katerina a concerned glance. "You are sure you do not need my help? Maybe it is only Niklaus's paranoia. Mother is dead, after all. But if Nadia can also gain her freedom with that… I'll go. But please call me as soon as possible."

* * *

It took Katerina and Nadia three more days. Firstly because they wanted to make sure that Maisie had found out as much as possible, and secondly because the wanted to enjoy two more days of mother-daughter-bonding. None of them was all too eager to see Katerina killed, but both of them knew that they had no other chance. Time was running short and before too long the potion Elijah had given her would cease to work any longer.

"You're not coming with me", Katerina said while they were driving past the sign that welcomed poor strangers in Mystic Falls. "Go fuck Matty Blue if you like but I don't want to see you somewhere near the Salvatore mansion. Got it?"

"I'm not your little puppy Elijah." Nadia crossed stubbornly her arms and kept staring out of the windscreen. "You don't have to worry that I would stop Damon. I know that it has to be done. I'll wait within earshot so Damon won't bury you before you are cold."

Katerina scoffed and made a face, but she was honestly glad that Nadia would be there. She already had faced Death more than once, but she didn't do it with a laughing heart. It was some kind of poetic justice to finally allow Damon of all people to kill her. Damon, who hated her since her return to Mystic Falls. It was kind of sad, really. Back in 1864 they had had fun together, they had been happy together. Somehow. Now she gave him one last gift before she would go to New Orleans and forget this Mystic Falls Gang once and for all.

"Don't you think he'd grow suspicious?" Nadia asked finally. "I mean, why should you return to be killed by him if not to save your life?"

Katerina laughed not very kindly. "It's Damon we're talking about. He wouldn't stop to ask me once I turn up on his doorstep. Trust me, he wants nothing so much as to kill me. Stefan on the other hand… Maybe it's no bad idea to let you stay nearby. Stefan could be someone to stop Damon. Too often he thinks he should save me."

"Just like your little stunt with the watch tower, right? By the way, I'm still mad at you."

"I was desperate." Katerina shrugged her shoulders. "I girl should be allowed to be desperate once in a time, especially when she's about to die. But I'm over that, alright? I'm just about to get me killed to live on."

"Do you really think you could have a life with Elijah? Klaus might have promised you your freedom, but do you think he's about to keep his word?" Mistrust was plainly to be seen on Nadia's face and she scrunched her nose. Elijah she almost trusted to keep Katerina safe; but Klaus? No way in hell!

Katerina shrugged once again and stalled the car just within spitting distance of the mansion, but still out of earshot. "I don't know. I never had the chance to have a life and now…"

"Now you're afraid", Nadia quietly finished.

"Well, yes. But it's not only a life with Elijah I want. I want you in there as well. Which is why I sent him home, when Klaus had called. He promised me your freedom and safety as well. You don't have to come to New Orleans if you don't want to. I won't force you. But I would be happy if we could spend more time with one another. And I would like you to get to know Elijah better. He's not as uptight as he seems. Not always, at least." Katerina was smiling softly while looking out of the window. She had fallen for Elijah when she had first met him and she hoped Nadia would realise that he was a good guy, an honest man. If the same could be applied to Klaus was doubtful at least, but even if Katerina would always be wary around him, she knew that he would never hurt his brother. And if so, then only temporary. Daggers could be removed, but if her head was separated from her body… That would probably cause a brotherly feud. "But first I have to give Damon a little present. Won't take me long. Look out for someone of the Mystic Falls Gang; I really don't want to have Elena around."

Katerina gulped down the centuries old potion, hopped out of the car, winked at Nadia so her daughter would not worry too much and strode away in direction of the Salvatore Mansion. If she was being honest, she didn't like at all where this little witch Maisie had taken her. She would probably haunt her, if her death was permanent.

Nadia stayed behind with a tight knot in her stomach. She wanted to protect her mother, to keep her safe and away from any harm; and to do so, she had to let her die. It was a crazy world, a cruel one. She refused to turn on the radio for being afraid of missing a possible intruder; she wouldn't forgive herself, if anything happened to Katerina due to her carelessness. Maybe she should have turned it on, anyway. Nadia could hear every word that was spoken, every breath that was taken. It took everything to keep her sitting in the car. Of course Katerina had to vex Damon, but was it necessary to make him angry?

Still, she had almost missed Stefan, as he sped towards the entrance. Nadia threw the door open and knocked him to the ground, pinning him there so he couldn't do anything besides snarling. It was useful to be most vampire's senior by some century or other. "Shut the hell up", Nadia hissed impatiently and banged Stefan's head against the ground.

"Nadia?" Stefan's voice sounded dopey, as he turned his head to look at her. "What're you doing? Can't you hear? Katherine is with Damon and if we don't go in there right now-"

"I know", she cut him off shortly. "I know she's in there. And she made it clear that no one should come in rescuing her."

"But she's human! I can hear her heartbeat. Does she want to get herself killed?" Stefan still couldn't grab the meaning of all of this.

Nadia rolled her eyes. Couldn't men simply trust a woman and do as they were told? "If you don't run in there once I let you go I might care to explain. Otherwise I'll shut you down my way, understand?" Right now the option to break his neck seemed somewhat tempting.

"Fine." Stefan sat up once Nadia let him go and rubbed his shoulder. "So, I guess you found a way of saving her which includes to get her killed. You're sure it's a good plan?"

"No", Nadia answered honestly. "But it is the only plan we have. Elijah had some potion that could return her from death and some British witch confirmed it. With lots and lots of maybes, but you know my mother: If she wants to have something, she'll die to get it one way or the other. But for that she has to be killed by someone, who doesn't want her to wake up ever again. Damon was the obvious choice."

"A potion? Elijah once brought a potion with him when Klaus tried to sacrifice Elena but it didn't work because of Damon's blood in her system. What about the Cure? Wouldn't that be a problem? And Katherine's not going to be sacrificed but simply killed."

"Those are two of the maybes. I don't know how magic works; I never bothered to learn it while I had the chance. This witch said that it should work but I guess she wasn't too sure. If it works – and there is a big if by the way – Katerina could even keep her young body and would age like any other normal human. It would by her some more years to find a way to turn her into a vampire again. Should that fail, she would at least gain some sixty years, give it or take. Although I think she cuts her throat when the first wrinkles appear." Nadia tried to sound like it wouldn't bother her but the truth was entirely different.

Stefan nodded in understanding. "I'll have my fingers crossed. Shall I get her body out once Damon has finished? He's grumpy with me anyway but he knows Caroline will kick his ass, if he snaps my neck. On the other hand, if you walk in there… It might not be a good idea."

Nadia simply nodded. She knew it wouldn't help Katerina if she got killed to; Damon could try to drive a stake through her heart or burn her, once she was unconscious. Who then would get Katerina out of there and to New Orleans?

"You have a place to stay? For, you know, afterwards? I still own an apartment in Chicago. I haven't been there for a while so it could be dusty but elsewise it's a nice place to stay. Beautiful city. Katherine was there at least once, as far as I know. Only recently. Saved my ass."

"Twice. She was there in the twenties, to keep an eye on you during your ripper period", Nadia corrected absentminded. In the mansion things had boiled up and loud voices could be heard without having supernatural hearing, even if a human wouldn't be able to make out any words. When Damon finally sank his teeth into Katerina's neck who then screamed out, Nadia's hair stood on end. Two minutes later, a sharp, snapping sound was to be heard, just like someone had stepped onto a dry twig.

"I'll get her out", Stefan said softly, trying to sooth the female vampire beside him. "Give me five minutes. Drive a little up the road, I'll bring her there. You can trust me."

"Okay." More reluctantly than not, Nadia strode back to the car and started the engine. It was a hard task to drive away from her dead mother, not knowing if she would ever wake up again. Just in front of the town sign she stopped, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. All she wanted was to get out of here as soon as possible and to never look back again. She would try to see the good in Elijah, to trust him, that he wouldn't hurt her mother in any way. She would even stay with her in New Orleans and build a live there. For the first time in forever she would be travelling around the globe, searching for a mother. Maybe she would even tell her why Nadia had abandoned her child all those years ago. Why she couldn't stand raising this little, fragile bundle.

A soft knock on the driver's side window brought her back to the present. Stefan. Katerina was in his arms, seemingly sleeping if not for the unnatural paleness of her skin. Hastily Nadia got out of the car and opened the door to the backseat.

"I washed the blood off her skin", Stefan explained, flinging a spade carelessly to the side and laying Katerina onto the black leather. "Damon was bored as soon as she was dead, it seemed. He was just pouring himself a glass of whiskey when I entered. I don't think he will come looking for the both of you, but you should be wary nevertheless. Guess I'm wasting my breath, you as well as Katherine know how to disappear. Still, I wish you all the luck. Take care she doesn't cause more trouble than necessary, alright?"

"Thank you, Stefan. Honestly. I'll tell her, what you did", Nadia promised and gently closed the door as to not disturb Katerina.

Stefan laughed quietly and rubbed the back of his head. "Better you don't. I know that Katherine Pierce can keep a secret and I guess Katerina Petrova is also able to. But I'd rather not have Damon somehow knowing. Might be he kills me regardless of Caroline's threats and Elena denying him sex."

"Then I'll make sure that nobody listens. She should know, that you are someone she can count on. If she likes it or not, my mother will need friends, as long as she is not again a vampire." Nadia shrugged her shoulders. She knew all too well, how stubborn her mother could be. Limberly she again took seat behind the steering wheel. "But for now I'll get her home."

"Go ahead. And maybe give me call, when she wakes hope. As I said, fingers are crossed."

"Mine too."

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So, there it is. Let me know whether you still want to know how this story carries out. While you take your time, I'll probably start writing the next chapter, just in case.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N Here finally is the next chapter. Trust me guys, I waited as much as you did for updating this story. It took some time (way too much time, I know) but please let me know what you think of this chapter. I really do hope, that muse od free-time will work together more closely in the future ;)**

 **To the Guest who asked about the language I chose to learn last semester: Italian and Swedish. Still racking my brain which one to continue in the summer.**

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Elijah stood with his back to the window, hands folded behind his back, and watched Katerina warily. She laid on the bed, seemingly sleeping but for the lack of breathing. He had a bad feeling coiled in his guts. It already took so long for her to wake up again, but then again, how much time was needed to bring someone back from the dead? What if the potion didn't work? If it had already been too old to function properly? If Katerina was dead, once and for all? Not only that he couldn't have saved her but he basically had sent her to her death. How could he move on from that?

"She will wake up. She has to", Nadia assured him for probably the fifth time by now. "Since no one has used this potion ever before, we don't know how long it will take. And if Maisie was wrong, I will pull her guts out and feed them to the dogs."

"I should never have given my consent." Elijah's voice was quiet, strained and he spoke as if he hadn't even heard Nadia. "We could have looked for a different way, but I… I wanted it to be the solution. I wanted to be the one to prove the possibility of saving her, since I was the one who failed her the first time. If I hadn't been so goddamn proud…" He shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment to regain his control. He did not know Nadia well enough to let himself go in her presence, but it was so hard to keep himself together when he didn't know if Katerina would live or die.

"It's not your fault. And stop blaming yourself, you're making me nervous." Nadia was quiet for a while. Then, without looking at Elijah, she asked: "Why did you leave her in the first place? You do seem to honestly love her and even if I cannot comprehend why on earth she should take you back, she does resemble the woman my father told me of more when she is with you."

"One reason was my brother. Niklaus returned here and he wanted my help. I once promised him my loyalty, so I would and could not retreat from my promise. But the main reason was, that I did not know if I could trust her. She handed me the cure, yes, but… After years of lies, secrets and games, I did not know if I could trust her. That was why I turned my back on her. I swore to myself that I would check in on her to see if she was alright, if she needed any help. But I did not. Here I had enough to worry about and I knew her pride. She would not have taken me back if I had been on my hands and knees in front of her." Elijah smiled softly to himself. He was not used to second chances and if he was honest he knew, that this was at least the third chance he got to make things right with Katerina. With a curious look he mustered Nadia. "What exactly did your father tell you of her? I only ask because I never got to know the girl she had been before Katerina showed up in England. If it is somewhat to personal, you do not have to answer."

Nadia shrugged. "It's fine, I guess. Father often called her adventurous and brave and curious. Alive and hungry for a life outside of the little village, where she had only been the daughter of the local horse merchant. She had showed him her favourite horse once. A gelding she always hid when her father tried to sell him." The female vampire smiled. "My father laughed when he told the story and said, I were too much like her as that he would ever try and sell my childhood pony, even when I had outgrown him. He held word. I left before the pony."

"I am sorry", Elijah said quietly, noticing the sadness and vulnerability in her eyes. "It had not been an easy time for a girl back then, I am sure of it."

"You know nothing." Nadia abruptly stood and opened the door. "Looking for some coffee."

Once Nadia had left the room, Elijah gave up his place at the window with a frown and sat down beside Katerina on the mattress. "Do even you know what did happen to her? Or is she so much your daughter, that she buried her past deep within? You have to come back, you hear me? Nadia needs you, Katerina. I need you With my mother creating havoc and the werewolves and witches just waiting for any sign of weakness, I do need you. Marcel is building up his army and the werewolves keep attacking, although Hayley tried to negotiate a truce with them. The witches are not likely to cooperate, either. They rather make common cause with my mother. I would fight on all these fronts more fiercely if I had you to return to at the end of the day. I already lost you once, don't make me go through that again."

"How touching." Niklaus stood beside the door, watching his brother. Mockery stood in his eyes but the usual playfulness was missing. Instead there was worry. Not for Katerina, surely not, but for Elijah. Niklaus saw him broken once, after he had killed Tatia by accident. He doubted that their mother would again wipe out his memories if he also felt responsible for Katerina's death. "I just wanted to check in if she's alive and a pain in the arse again again. Did you really keep that potion all those years? Why?"

"I don't know", Elijah had to admit without looking up. "Perhaps I felt that it was important to keep it. I only hope that it still works. I couldn't bear it if she had died because the potion had expired."

"That would be quite a pity. After all I had hoped to have some fun with her. Without physical torturing her, to be sure", Niklaus quickly added when Elijah glanced at him with murder in his eyes. He gripped the knob and opened the door again. "But I bet she can be useful creating some sort of peace. Our lovely Katerina did make some allies throughout the years and I would be surprised if she had simply skipped New Orleans. Let me know if I can get you something. This city can reign itself for a few hours without having blood filling the streets. I'll try and keep the little devil busy. Guess you don't need her in here, too."

"I thank you, brother."

And so Elijah was left alone again with Katerina. His fingers gently brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. Her skin was cool. Elijah closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He hated waiting, hated it more than he could ever describe. But there was nothing else to do for him. While he sat there impatiently, Esther, Marcel and the wolves were probably making plans on how they could bring down the Originals. Was some speck of hope too much to ask for?

He should never have left her. If he hadn't chosen Niklaus and stayed with her, maybe Elena hadn't even had the chance to administer the cure for vampirism to her. They could have gone together to New Orleans; somehow he would have convinced Niklaus not to harm her. But he had been so angry with her! You would think that someone, who had lost all her family, would treat the family of other's with some respect. But she had killed the young Gilbert to get her hands on the cure to save herself. To bargain for her freedom. To be with him.

Elijah sighed and pinched the back of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He had doubted her. Her honesty, her love for him. How could he have been so blinded? Now all that they could have had seemed lost. He knew that a life with Katerina Petrova who all too often choose to be Katherine Pierce was everything but easy, but at that moment he didn't want anything else.

Suddenly Katerina's eyes flung open and she gasped for air. Choking and coughing she struggled into a sitting position, while Elijah's hands carefully supported her slim body. Disbelief and relief beyond measure let his eyes gleam. Finally, Katerina caught her breath and looked confused but nevertheless relieved at Elijah. "How long had I been gone?", she asked while taking a closer look at the vampire. "Have you been crying?"

"Almost", he whispered and pulled her in a tight embrace that nearly left her breathless again. "I thought- Never mind. I am only glad the potion worked. Nadia was worried, too."

"I'm not gonna leave you." Katerina wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his neck. "You don't have to worry about me, alright? I'm not easily killed. Well, I am, but I come back. Although I have to admit, I'm sick of it by now. But here I am, alive."

Elijah breathed in her fragrance and let his head sink against her shoulder. "I know." There was no need mentioning that he had feared otherwise; Katerina seemed to sense his agony. "How are you feeling?", he finally managed to ask. Her beating heart against his chest was a distraction he could barely stand.

"Okay." Katerina shrugged her shoulders and only reluctantly let go of Elijah to look at him. "I'm still feeling weak, exposed and numb. Plainly human. But that's better than dead. And it looks like I'm still my young sexy self, so it could be worse."

"Do I have reason to kill Damon?" Elijah would gladly snap his neck, if he made Katerina's death more painful than it had to be.

Katerina stiffened only for a second, then she was her old flirty self. "Na. I got what I deserved. We had a couple of choice words for one another and he didn't do anything I wouldn't have done. So do me a favour and let it be. It will be punishment enough for him when he learns that I'm alive." She slipped out of Elijah's embrace and took a first look around. "Your room?"

"Our apartment", Elijah corrected and left the bed, too. "That's so if you don't object. This mansion is big enough, there would be no trouble to find a part you would have all to yourself. And for Nadia, of course."

"Our apartment, then." Katerina smiled in his direction and stepped to the window. Behind the glass, New Orleans already prepared for another mostly sleepless night. Flocks of night owls were looking for a bar for the night, not caring that there was another working day waiting for them at dawn. It was a place, where Katerina could imagine to live. "Where is Nadia?"

"Downstairs to grab some coffee. Niklaus is with her and-"

"Klaus is with her?" Fear and horror were displayed in her eyes and she brushed past Elijah to open the door, but he took her by the wrist.

"Remember, he will not hurt her. Niklaus might have his flaws, but he is able to keep a promise. Please trust me, that I would never bring your daughter, your blood in a situation where she could be hurt."

"You I trust, but Klaus? He hunted me for five centuries, he has no reason at all to spare Nadia. You know she has a talent to rile people up-"

"I know", Elijah said softly, trying to avoid hurting Katerina when she struggled against his grip. "I know. But nothing will happen to her. He is not the monster you think him to be. Not always, at least. But he knows that today he better does not get on my bad side. And the less you show your worries, the more he will get bored of it. Trust me, even after all these years, sometimes he is just my annoying little brother."

Katerina took a deep breath and returned Elijah's look with a seriousness in her eyes. "You promise to keep her save from Klaus? All those other vampires, wolves and witches she can fight, but he…"

Elijah kissed her hand he was still holding. "I promise. Now, why don't we get ourselves some coffee and you something to eat? You must be starving already."

"Fine." Katerina dd not let go of his hand as if to withhold herself from running down the stairs. Finally, they reached the kitchen, where the herb smell of coffee was coming from. Katerina stepped inside, Elijah at her heels. Nadia still had her head on her shoulders and sat opposite of Klaus on the table, a steaming mug in front of her. The vampire and the hybrid were staring at each other with disgust and half hidden curiosity mingling on both faces.

"Nadia?" Katerina stood beside her daughter and laid on hand on her shoulder. "You're alright?"

"She still breaths, doesn't she?", Klaus remarked and rolled his eyes. "I have no reason to wish her dead. Well, right now at least. She's interesting enough to be of use, your daughter. Unlike you."

"If I were useless, you would have found me four hundred years ago", Katerina answered, crossing her arms. "I served you a new doppelgänger, but you were the one to screw it up. Aside from the fact you would have made my life a lot easier if you'd killed Elena that early, you know?"

"I did kill her", Klaus reminded Katerina with a raised forefinger. "Her witchy friend just brought her back. How did you even know about Hayley? Do you really keep track with every woman I ever fucked?"

"God, no! Nobody could do that. I have some friends here, that's all. Although most of the are already dead, since your little boy Marcel started cleaning up the city. Don't get me wrong, I like it when I'm not annoyed by witches, but sometimes they do can be useful." Katerina shrugged.

Elijah was slowly moving closer until he stood just behind her. Katerina worried about Nadia getting Niklaus's back up? Irony.

"Oh, don't worry, some witches are still alive. Maybe some of those still know you. Why don't you go and find out? You could prove your usefulness." Klaus stood up and filled his mug again. "Help yourself. As eager as I would want to chitchat, but I have a city to conquer and a mother to kill. Only one thing, Katerina: you're here because of Elijah, not because I would like you to or because I would need any help you might offer or not. If I have one single reason to doubt your loyalty to my family and Elijah especially, I will gladly rip your little head off."

Elijah raised is eyebrows. "Niklaus, do you think this threat necessary?"

"She's supposed to feel home, isn't she?" Klaus shrugged his shoulders and made his way out of the door, coffee mug in his hand.

"Wow. You're sure you wanna stay here, mother?" Nadia raised her eyebrows and leaned back on her chair. "For my share, I'm looking for another place. Someplace decent. With nicer company or none at all."

"I cannot blame you at all", Elijah murmured. "If you like I could help you find something. The Garden District is a lovely place and-"

"Thank you, but no thanks", Nadia interrupted him. "I'm a vampire, I can get a flat myself. And that's just what I'm doing now." She pushed her mug away from her and stood up to give Katerina a fleeting kiss on the cheek. "I'm calling when I found something. Take care of yourself, you hear me?"

"I'll be fine. Watch out for the wolves and give 'em a kick if the bark at you." Katerina gave her daughter a smirk, who vanished through the front door without giving Elijah more than a second glance.

"She does hate me", Elijah simply stated, sounding slightly disappointed.

Katerina shrugged, putting her arms around his neck and pressing herself against him. "So? She will grow accustomed to you. It's a change for her, yes, but she's a strong girl."

"As strong as you. There has to be something in her past but she wouldn't open up to me", he mused, playing with a strand of her hair.

Katerina laughed softly. "What did you expect? You help saving me and you're her new diary? That's not how a Petrova works."

"No, it's not. It's hard work to get your trust." Elijah tilted his head to kiss her on the lips. "What do you think about dinner tonight? The Mayor invited me to some sort of negotiation with other representatives of the human faction."

"So a dinner where I would have to behave?" Katerina scrunched her nose. "Why don't you go there alone, while I in the meantime visit some old friends of mine. And then I will await you in our apartment, naked on the bed. What do you think?"

"I have absolute no objections", Elijah whispered, tracing invisible patterns on her bare arms. "Maybe I could delay my arrival for some time. I'm almost sure the Mayor would understand."

"If we start now, we wouldn't get out of bed in time for you to look as immaculate as you always do." Katerina gave him a lingering kiss, softly nibbling at his lower lip.

Elijah let himself melt into this kiss, pressing her slender body against his chest. "I am willing to take the risk", he breathed, when Katerina finally released him, and scooped her up in his arms. Giggling she held onto him, opening the first buttons of his shirt. It felt good to be alive again.

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Sorry for skipping the smutty part, next time I won't do it again, promise.

In the next chapter, Kat will meet some old friends, old enemies and new new frenemies... or something like that ;)


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N In time for the new semester, I managed to finish the next chapter. Plus, it's rather long ;) I hope you enjoy it**

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Katerina almost danced along the streets in her expensive boots. She hadn't wanted to take a cab, simply because she wanted to feel the wind and sun on her skin. It was a warm afternoon slowly fading into an evening and Katerina had never felt more alive. Well, the sex with an unbelievable gorgeous and more than able original surely played its part in her mood. She knew that the witches lived for the most part in the French Quarter, but right now she didn't want to see any witches. She did plan on stopping by during the next days, but for now there was someone more important to see.

The address Elijah had given her on a costly looking slip of paper lead her to some warehouses on the other side of the city. It was a quiet area, not meant for residential buildings but seemingly deserted. Except for some guy guarding on of the doors. Katerina rolled her eyes at that. Was there a way to be any more obvious? She stepped confidently around the corner so the guy couldn't possibly miss her and strutted towards him. Katerina wasn't disappointed.

"Who are you? You can't be here, go home", the guy called and blocked the door with his body. He seemed to have been in his early twenties when he had been turned; the puppy look hadn't left his eyes yet. The dark hair was tousled, if by wind or styling she couldn't decide.

"Tell Marcel there's an old friend to meet him. And be quick about it, my feet are killing me." Katerina crossed her arms in front of her chest and shifted her weight to her right. Maybe walking hadn't been the best idea after all.

"Marcel's busy. He told me not to let anyone in and-"

"Gosh, you wanna kidding me? Just go in there already or let me pass. That's not Fort Knox." By now Katerina really was annoyed. Did Marcel even look at the people he was turning? If all of those were such boys, he had not the slightest chance to overthrow Klaus.

Just as the boy opened his mouth to reply, Marcel's head appeared behind one of the upper windows. "What's going on out there? Kat? Thought I heard your voice. What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you. Am I allowed come in or do I have to deal with your bellboy here first?" Katerina winked at him and ignored the sulking guy.

"Josh, let her in already! And also Davina, if she shows up. Even if this Kaleb guy is with her. I need to talk to her." His head vanished again, but Katerina already looked at Josh.

"Sorry, but half an hour ago he said-"

"Don't worry, Joshy. Keep your pecker up, life could be worse. Trust me." Katerina passed through the door Josh held open for her and started to climb the steps. Someone with enough taste had turned the warehouse into a living space, that could or could not resemble some modern college dorm.

Marcel already awaited her at the stairhead to pull her into a brotherly embrace. "Good to see you, Kat. Glad, those rumours I heard were just that." Then he held her away at arm's length and examined her more closely. "You look different and that's not only your new style. Something you wanna talk about?"

"What kind of rumours made it to New Orleans? Some of them could be true." Katerina wrested herself from Marcel's touch and walked over to the settee in front of the window looking over the city. "Nice place. Where are your vampires?"

Marcel poured two drinks and took a seat beside her. "Out. Snacking on some tourists or watching the enemy. Here you are." He handed her one of the glasses and laid his arm on the back rest. "There was talk about you being dead. Something about a cure the Mikaelsons also wanted to have. A cure for vampirism. Did you really take it? You seemed so confident as a vampire back then but your heart sounds different."

"Someone forced it on me. But I survived, as I always do." Katerina turned the glass in her hands before she looked at Marcel again. "Back then, when we first met and you said that I looked like your sister after they had taken away her child… Do you remember?"

"Yeah, I do. You told me, if I didn't shut up, you would find a witch to set my dick on fire. So why are you telling me this? The Katherine Pierce I know would never admit that someone was right about her history."

"Because you were right. I had a daughter but she was taken away from me. She found me. Last summer, after so much time, can you imagine? Sometimes Nadia resembles me so much, I'm honestly scared. And then again I see her father in her. She got herself turned so she could find me." Katerina shook her head and smiled to herself. "She's looking for a place to stay, so we can get to know each other a little better."

"You're kidding, right? That's great. I'm really happy for you. If she wants some company, just send her over. And don't worry, I'll keep her identity private." Then Marcel's look got harder. "I would offer you a place to stay, too, but you have already found a bed to sleep in."

Katerina looked at him annoyed. "Oh, how can you possibly know? I'm in this town for what? Four hours?"

"Three and a half, if my guys aren't mistaken. The Mikaelsons, really? After all those centuries you ran from Klaus? What happened? You fucked his brother and he welcomes you in the family?"

"Oh no, you won't judge me!" Katerina stood up abruptly and put her glass down. "You have no idea, alright? I've been through enough shit to earn some sort of happiness. And when Elijah decides to stay here with his stupid brother instead of going to Europe, then I have to make sure that I don't bring my daughter into a city where two guys comparing dicks are raging wars. You were my friend when I first came here and I still consider you my friend. I don't want you to die because of Klaus. He already ruined enough lives."

Marcel stayed silent after Katerina's speech and only turned his glass in his hands. Then, finally: "What makes you think I couldn't stand against this bastard?"

"Well, there are no white oak stakes, for a start. Klaus presumably has all the daggers and as far as I know, there are no other vampires old enough to be able to fight him." Katerina took a sip of her drink, crossed her arms and sighed. "Look, I know you're proud, but I don't tell you to rum from Klaus or lick his ass; I'm just telling you to make some kind of peace. What about all of your vampires? Shall they die, too?"

"Have a little faith, Kat", Marcel just replied with a boyish smile. "Look, I would love to share the backup plans I have, but since you're fucking the noble brother, I cannot trust you to not spill the beans. After all you were the one to teach me to trust no one." He stood up and walked over to Katerina. "But I promise you to have an eye on your daughter, if that's what you want me to do. Nadia, is it? And you're always welcome, as long as you don't try to spy for Klaus."

"Yeah, as if there wasn't anything better to do for me", Katerina scoffed. A worried frown showed on her forehead. "Just promise to not get yourself killed, you hear me?"

"I'll do my best. But let's talk about something else, shall we?" Marcel laid a hand at the small of her back and guided her gently to the settee. "So you're human… Why haven't you asked Elijah to turn you again?"

"When the cure was still running in my veins, it rejected vampire blood; I couldn't even heal a single cut with it", Katerina told quietly, as if not to summon those ghosts. "Even if the cure seems to have left my body, I don't trust it. What if I stay dead because my body still rejects vampire blood? I cannot risk it, not now. So I'll stay human until I'll find a saver way."

"You'll need a witch. And a powerful one with that. I'll keep my eyes open", Marcel promised, taking another sip.

"Don't open them too wide, your eyes could fall out."

Both Katerina and Marcel turned their heads. A tall young man with curly brown hair and blue eyes stood at the door, a darker brunette girl right beside him. A smirk played on the man's lips as he strode towards the settee. "You know, sometimes you don't have to look too far to find a witch. He or she could just stand in front of you."

"Is it even politically correct to call a male a witch? Or is it rather warlock?", Katerina replied, eyeing him carefully. "And sometimes the first witch you see is not the one you need right now."

"True enough", the boy laughed and bowed mockingly. "Kaleb, at your service. Or not."

"Davina!" Marcel walked towards the girl and laid an arm around her shoulders. "Glad you're here. Kat, that's Davina, a good friend of mine. Davina, Katherine Pierce. Old friend of mine, known to most of the supernatural world. And now the two of you need to enjoy yourselves alone, Davina and I have to talk."

"Don't worry, Marcel, I need to go anyway. Prepare for the night, if you know what I mean." Katerina winked at the vampire and got up. "I'll see you later, maybe I'll bring my friend Nadia along."

"Kaleb can hear what we have to talk about, Marcel", Davina said in that annoyed voice distinct to teenagers Katerina hated so much. "He's my friend and knows about things I haven't even heard of."

"Na, don't worry, Davina. I'm fine. I can walk Katherine home, who knows who's out there now. We don't want something to happen to her", Kaleb suggested with a glimmer in his eyes Katerina didn't miss. "We'll see each other tomorrow at school, okay?"

Katerina and Marcel exchanged a glance until Katerina shrugged and followed Kaleb out again. Poor Josh still stood guard and looked at the two of them with wary eyes as they left the ground. "So, you're new in town? Or just visiting?" Kaleb asked unbiased and put his hands in his pockets.

"Been here before, now just returning", Katerina answered, shrugging nonchalantly. "What business do you have with the vampires?"

"Let's say, they… fascinate me." Kaleb smirked again. "I study all kinds of magic and vampires are some sort of it. At least as far as I've heard. It's interesting that one single spell so long ago can create a population so big."

"What do you know about the original witch? Or the spell she created?" Elijah had told her the story of his transition long ago; not that Katerina hadn't found out most of it by herself.

Kaleb shrugged. "I know she's dead. And I guess she'd been quite a powerful witch. Too bad her spell is lost. But otherwise the spell is worth nothing if you don't have a witch who can perform it."

"Let me guess: you're quite a powerful guy yourself, right?"

"I've learned a thing or two. I bet you could be quite powerful yourself if you would start practicing."

For the blink of an eye Katerina stopped short, but then her face was blank again. Aside from Nadia and herself, only few knew of her heritage; even fewer were still alive. How could this boy she never met before know of her being a Traveler witch? "I have no idea, what you're talking about. What should I practice? Yoga's really not my sort of sport and I don't know if my boyfriend would appreciate me doing Pole Dance."

"I'm rather talking about your witchy side. And I would think it a pity if you would skip Pole, but that's just my two cents." Kaleb winked at her. "No, but honestly. Are you practicing? I heard Travelers are more supporters of curses than of keeping nature's balance. On the other side, it's no surprise at all, right? What other kind of magic could they possibly use, if they are banned from the usual kind? It's a pity their subculture has grown so small. I guess they can use every practicing witch out there."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm just a former vampire, nothing special. We cannot all be witches and warlocks." Katerina gave him her best smirk. "So, you and this Davina girl… what's going on there? You're old enough to do more than holding hands, but Marcel doesn't seem to like you that much."

"We're just friends. But I hadn't thought you the humble type of person, Katherine. Nothing special, huh? Being the doppelgänger who managed to run from the original hybrid for five hundred years is nothing special? Please. And I know about you being a Traveler. Don't worry, I won't tell Davina or the other witches. I know, witches and Travelers are not exactly on good terms and it would be a pity if the older Mikaelson would lose his girl." Kaleb's smile seemed to be meant sympathetic, but Katerina again noticed the glimmer in his eyes.

"You know the Mikaelsons? I didn't know Elijah and Klaus were mingling with students."

"Who doesn't know the Mikaelsons in this city, right?" Kaleb chuckled to himself and stopped in front of the gate of a great mansion. "You will forgive me if I don't bring you to the front door. Maybe I'll see you around." He waved at her and turned around.

Katerina looked after him with a frown. She couldn't remember telling him where she lived. With slow steps she made her way to the mansion where she pushed the door open and headed for the kitchen. As she hadn't eaten after waking up, her stomach grumbled now. Katerina opened the fridge, but aside from blood bags there wasn't much to eat in there. "Great", she muttered, slamming the door shut again.

"It's not a hotel. If you want to eat something, you can buy it yourself." When Katerina turned around, she was faced with Rebekah. The vampire glared at her, arms crossed over her chest and the blonde hair braided on one side. Fantastic. Katerina sighed. "My brothers already told me that you would be here. For how long are you staying? I'm sure the Salvatore's already miss your bitchy attitude."

"Look, Rebekah", Katerina started impatiently, "I know the two of us had a bad start, but we're grown-ups. Elijah won't kick me out and you and I know that it would only hurt him if we don't get along. I don't want to borrow your clothes or talk boys with you, but I'm tired of fighting you, too."

"I really don't know why he fancies you. Must have something to do with your looks; you're the spitting image of Tatia. He loved her, you know? It took him a long time to get over her death and I think you're just some sort of consolation, but nothing more. He even left you for Nik, so how much can you really mean to him?"

Before Katerina could get her hands on a sharp knife and throw it into Rebekah's smirking visage, Elijah entered the kitchen and put his body between the two women, thus ended the fight before it could flare up. "Rebekah, I already told you I don't want you to insult Katerina. I have learned from my past mistakes and I will not commit them again. If Katerina cannot bear it to live here any longer due to your behaviour, we will look for another place. Together. I don't threaten you, sister, this is a mere warning. Take it to your heart. If Niklaus is able to leave the past behind, then you should try it, too." He then turned to Katerina, a smile playing in his eyes. He gently took her hand and brought it to his lips to plant a kiss upon it. "Since I thought you were hungry, I brought dinner. Would you like to join me upstairs?"

"Gladly." Katerina squeezed his hand and let him lead her to their rooms. While they left the kitchen, Katerina could still feel Rebekah's glares piercing her back. A plate was already set up on the coffee table, steam rising from a filet mignon and a bowl full with vegetables, almost hiding a chocolate soufflé. "Thank you", she smiled and gave Elijah a chaste kiss before taking a seat in front of the food. "It looks good."

Elijah joined her at the table and poured two glasses of red wine. "You're more than welcome. Did you enjoy your afternoon? I hope, Marcel did recognize you. He can be somewhat itchy about strangers."

"Marcel wasn't the problem. Well, he did fear I could spy for Klaus, but we all know how possible that would be." Katerina rolled her eyes and cut a little piece off of the filet. "Some Davina-girl visited him, obviously a witch. I don't know how powerful, she's just a teenager, but Bonnie Bennett isn't that old either. Oh and there was this Kaleb guy. He was creepy. Told me something about me being a Traveler witch and asked me if I was practicing."

"Kaleb?" Elijah frowned. "I do not think I remember this name. And he was with Davina?"

"Seemed to be a friend of hers." Katerina shrugged and tried the mashed potatoes. "You know this Davina?"

"I repaired her violin and lend her some pages of my mother's grimoire. Nothing difficult or dangerous, little things so she could practice." Elijah took a sip of his wine and swirled it softly in the glass. "I have not met her for some time, I fear. She is good friends with Marcel and I would understand if she'd chose his side in this war to come."

Katerina looked at him in disbelief. "You gave some witch spells out of the original witch's cookbook? You're kidding me, right? Don't you wonder how your mother has returned from the dead?"

"Davina never received a spell like that from me. I keep the grimoire in this room. Niklaus has no use for it and I did not think it a good idea to give it to Rebekah." Elijah again shrugged his shoulders and smiled as in embarrassment. "It reminds me of Kol. He was the one to suffer most after our transition. He loved having those abilities and he always had a special bond to witches. Having the grimoire reminds me of him."

"I'm sorry though I didn't have any to do with his death." Katerina gently squeezed his hand. "How did you even learn your mother was back in business? I'm sure she didn't drop in to say hello, did she?"

"The werewolves started not to turn at full moon and at the same time Niklaus was weakened. We then learned that it was due to moonlight rings the wolves did not turn. They worked just like our daylight rings and since our mother created this spell, we supposed it was her who helped the wolves. Hayley managed to bring some of them to our side, although it was difficult since they got used to not turning. The others we killed, but one told us the name of the witch who created the rings. Not voluntarily, I should mention. We visited Cassy and at first she seemed like a young woman but her eyes… Her eyes were too old. This look was so much like the one our mother used to give us that she couldn't possibly been mistaken", Elijah told. "When we attacked her, she simply jumped into another body. I did not want to scare you today but you should be careful. If this Kaleb seems to be somewhat off, maybe he is one of her minions doing her dirty work. Mother seldom went through her plans alone."

"Well, you don't seem to be afraid that she could be me right now", Katerina remarked. "Either you are too trustworthy or you think she doesn't know I'm here."

Elijah shook his head and looked deep into her eyes. "I could never mistake my mother for you. Never. I don't think she'd missed your arrival, but if she should ever jump into your body, I would do everything to get her out again and let her pay for it."

"Don't worry, my body's save. Traveler, you remember? We cannot be possessed except we allow it. Nadia wanted me to jump into her body so I could live on, but I couldn't do it." Katerina shrugged and dedicated her attention again to her food. It felt good having finally something in her belly. "If your mother's back, wouldn't that means Finn's also returned? Last time he was her favourite if I'm not mistaken."

"Niklaus and I already came to the same conclusion, but we have no idea whose body he could live in right now." Elijah sighed and run his fingers through his dark hair. "Under these circumstances we cannot afford a war with Marcel but both him and Niklaus are too proud to avoid it. We need his help to find and end Esther, otherwise she will end us. A situation Marcel would love, I suppose."

"I'll see what I can do, promise. But don't you think she could've also brought back Kol? Or Henrik?"

Again Elijah shook his head. "Henrik died as a human, he never went to the Other Side. I do not think she could've resurrected him. But Kol… I do not want to have hope only to have it destroyed. Kol never played along the rules, he always was open for mischief, but he was not evil. But if mother promised him to give him back his magic, he might fight on her side just to keep it. And I could not blame him."

Katerina laid knife and fork aside although the plate still was almost full; her appetite was gone. "You said he often mingled with witches. What if your mother brought him back and put him in the body of a warlock? Would he be able to use the warlock's powers?"

"I am not sure. It would be possible, I think. Do you think that Kaleb-"

"He knew I was staying with you", Katerina interrupted him. "He knew I'm a Traveler and he knew my name. Who else in New Orleans knows my name and my face? I haven't been around for… I don't know, too long. I never met this Kaleb before, but if he is in fact Kol, he must have heard of me, though I never met him either. But since he is brother to you and Klaus, of course he has to know me."

After that Elijah stared into his glass and it was quiet for some time. "Do you really think it could be Kol? If Kol works with mother and wants to end us…"

"I know." Katerina sat down on his lap and laid her hands on his shoulders. "But if he does, maybe he is willing to help us instead. You believed for so long that I could be saved and I'm still not convinced. But if I can be redeemed after all this time, then Kol, too. Just don't tell your siblings for now. The fewer people know, the better." Katerina at least hoped she was right with that. "Maybe Marcel can tell me something more about Kaleb."

"Maybe", Elijah nodded, but he seemed absent-minded until he suddenly looked at Katerina again. "Did Nadia find a place to stay?"

Katerina shrugged. "She didn't call me. I hope she's taking an evening off. Since I started aging, she got way too serious. I trust she will come to me, if she needs anything. Why, you're worried?"

"She's your daughter. I only want her to feel at home."

Katerina was silent for a few moments. "It could be the first time for her to have a home. Her dad was a Traveler and since he practiced, he couldn't stay at one place like my father. And Mystic Falls… I would like to think she found people there she got along with. She often was in the Grill with that Lockwood boy and Matty Blue. I would love to have her around but I won't force her to stay here if she doesn't want to. Guess I'll just have to wait. But just like you, Marcel promised to keep an eye on her. Maybe she feels more comfortable around vampires who don't have half a millennium on her and killed her family for no reasons."

"I know Niklaus has done horrible things but I'm sure he would not hurt Nadia. At least not to punish you, not anymore", Elijah said sternly.

Katerina got up from his lap. "I'm not so far as to trust Klaus, but I wasn't thinking of him. It's your lovely sister I'm more concerned of. Really, Elijah, I scarcely noticed her back in England and I'm sure as hell did nothing to offense her in any way. I'm not interested in her friendship, but she's old enough to know how to behave."

"After you left before the ritual and got yourself turned, Niklaus was furious. Of course he had noticed I had been spending time with you and after I failed to bring you back, he suspected me to have helped you running. Rebekah thinks you were the reason to disunite us and since she always wanted to hold our family together, she can be quite furious. Rebekah is notorious for being able to hold a grudge for a long time, but she will behave. I promise, Katerina. My sister will not separate us. I have made enough mistakes to not let this happen."

"I'm not telling you to kick her out", Katerina sighed. "I know you're a family guy and that's fine, really. I don't think you would worry about Nadia otherwise. I'll work it out with her somehow or I'll just avoid her. Can't be that difficult in so big a town."

Elijah grinned. "You can sort it all out once the external threat is removed and you are a vampire again as long as you do not try to kill each other."

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 **So, what do you think? I'm still not sure about Rebekah, if I'm honest, but I guess I'll just have to work into that. But I just love that they kinda brought Kol back and I couldn't ignore that. I think Kat and he will have a lot of fun together, once everything is sorted out.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N Helly guys. I'm sorry it took me longer than I thought to update this story, but to make it up to you, there's also the smut I skipped last time. If you have anything you like very much or not at all, please let me know. And now, have fun with it.**

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It had been a long time ago, since Katerina had last woken up with a genuine smile on her lips. Elijah's hand still laid on her stomach and his breath tickled her ear. She rolled over onto her side and looked at his face, still relaxed in sleep. She liked watching him like this. When he was awake, his mind too often had to deal with worries of all kind, so he seldom looked peaceful. But when he was asleep, all the worries seemed to have vanished and he looked much younger. Gently, as if not to wake him, Katerina reached out to push a strand of his hair back.

"I appreciate your affection, my dear, but it is kind of spooky if you stare at me like that", Elijah said, startling Katerina und smiling her.

She huffed. "Please. You're an original. As if there was anything able to spook you."

"You are." Elijah pulled her even closer and nuzzled her neck. "You manage to spook and surprise me all the time. And you never cease to amaze me."

Katerina smiled. "Go on. I could get used to awaking to compliments."

"You are beautiful. And clever. Strong. A survivor. Passionate." Elijah turned them around so Katerina was lying on her back. After every word describing her he lazily kissed her skin, forming a path from her neck to the hem of the top she wore to bed. "You know what you want and you're not afraid of it. You fight for those you love and sometimes even for those you don't. You're a challenge. You drive me crazy. Sometimes insane, even." Gently he pulled the top over her head and dedicated his attention to the soft skin of her breasts. Honesty shone in his eyes when he looked at her. "But still, there is nothing I would rather do than spending time with you and rediscover the girl I met five hundred years ago."

"Just stop talking", Katerina breathed and pulled Elijah in for a bruising kiss while her hands worked on his pyjama shorts, brushing 'accidentally' over his erection. Taken by surprise Elijah groaned and simply ripped off her own shorts with one hand to remove the last obstacle separating his fingers from her wetness. Finally, Katerina managed to get off his shorts and started stroking his hardening length. Elijah broke the kiss and again started kissing a trail on her skin that led him to her breasts. Gently he sucked on the little buds and when he bit her skin without drawing blood, Katerina gasped and pressed him closer to her body. The fingers of his right hand as yet circled teasingly around her wetness now entered her and set up a quick pace.

Katerina squirmed beneath him, trying to answer every thrust of his fingers with her hips and Elijah stopped his movements to look at her. "You have grown to be quite impatient, my dear." He ignored her glare, abandoned her breasts to pull her in yet another kiss and withdrew his finger only to tease her with the tip of his member. Their tongues fought each other in a fight neither really wanted to win. With her hands pressing on his chest, Katerina signalled Elijah to change positions. Willingly he grabbed her and turned himself on his back. With a fling Katerina managed to get her hair over her shoulder and looked directly into his eyes, while sinking slowly on his member.

Elijah groaned and closed his eyes for a second, laying his hands on her hips and helping her in her movements, bringing them both closer to oblivion. One of his hands reached for her breasts, playing almost lazily with the hard bud. Katerina leaned forward to kiss him to stifle her moans, her long hair tickling his torso. Her movements became frantic, her breath ragged and it only took Elijah's finger on her clit to let her explode. When her walls clenched around him, Elijah followed her suit.

Katerina just came lying on top of him and tried to catch her breath. "You were saying something when I interrupted you?" A smirk was playing on her lips while she looked at the vampire.

A quiet laugh escaped Elijah's lips. His arms laid almost protectively around her slim body and he stroke through her hair every now and then. "The summary of it all would only be something you already know. I love you, Katerina. I never stopped doing so."

"I know. But it feels good hearing it every now and then", Katerina admitted and shrugged her shoulders.

"Then I shall say it more often", Elijah promised and kissed her forehead gently. "Do you have some special plans for today?"

"Katerina shrugged again. "Meeting with Kaleb-Kol. He said he would be looking into some spells for me. I don't know if he does so because he wants to or is forced by Marcel or your mother. Just in case it's some sick joke of Esther, I'll be careful. I'm not so stupid as to believe in every spell someone gives me."

"What kind of spells?"

"Spells to give me back vampirism or to practice Traveler magic. It seems a good idea to have some sort of weapon as long as I don't have my fangs back. Don't worry, Nadia is coming along and will look at the Traveler stuff before I start with it. She knows how does things should look like." Katerina cocked her head. "Why are you asking?"

"I only wanted to know if there was something for you to do when I meet with the witches. It seems as they were slowly willing to form some sort of truce. In that case-"

"I know. I'll be careful when practicing." Katerina sighed. Life would be that much easier if witches and Travelers hadn't their own war going on. After two thousand years they still managed to rip each other's heads off.

Elijah nodded. "I'm counting on that. And tonight we could visit a mask ball organized by the human fraction. Introducing you properly to society, if you want to call it that. Niklaus will be there too, I hope. It's important he's showing respect to all fractions, not only to himself." He frowned in doubt.

"You don't have to tell me. What about Rebekah? Bet she wants to shows off those new shoes of her, that bitch."

"Katerina", Elijah scolded her, but he seemed to lack the gravity.

Katerina huffed and rolled down of Elijah's body. "What? I saw them first and I would have gotten them, if she hadn't manipulated the clerk. That's no fair play and if she desperately wants to play the game like this, then fine. I coined the term 'goddamn bitch', she won't stand a chance against me."

Elijah sighed dramatically and covered his eyes with his forearm. "Here I am, trying to work out a reasonable truce between different fractions in a city overrun by supernatural inhabitants when I have a raging war in my own home. Maybe I should start with the two of you before I aim for higher goals."

"I would consider it the other way around", Katerina replied nonchalantly. "If you manage to form a truce in New Orleans, you might have a chance to work with your sister and me. Maybe." She grinned her cheshire cat-grin and propped herself up on her elbow. "But I like the idea of the mask ball. Maybe I have some time to look for a fitting dress."

"Why don't you take Nadia along? I would love to have her accompany us, if she doesn't object."

Katerina shrugged and climbed out of bed. "I'll ask her. But first I have to shower. Wanna join me, my Lord?"

"Too bad I cannot use the spells Kaleb brought along", Katerina sighed. "Don't you know some that don't require a great group of Travelers?"

"I do, but none of those would help you against vampires or werewolves." Nadia threaded an earring through her earlobe. "Travelers rely on group magic, while single magic requires are huge amount of personal power. You would need a group to teach you some basics before you are able to perform spells on your own."

"What about this body-switching-thing you wanted me to do? That would have been single magic as well, wouldn't it?" Katerina frowned and pulled up the zipper in the side of her green ball gown. It was made from a light fabric so as to fit in the warm climate. The colour was similar to the one she had worn in England five centuries ago and her curls fell lose over her shoulders.

Nadia shrugged. "Well, yes. But this spell is our trademark, if you want to call it that way. More basic isn't possible. Besides, it wouldn't be amiss if you would learn Czech for using Traveler magic. Pronunciation can be a real bitch."

"Swearing in Czech doesn't count, I guess?" Katerina smirked and put some lipstick on.

Nadia smiled. "No. But it's a start."

A knock on the door let both women turn around and Katerina went over to open it. Elijah stood behind it, already in suit and a black mask with silver scrolls on it covering the area around his eyes. "My ladies, the car is waiting. Since I have more chances reminding the both of you to be punctual instead of my lovely siblings, I would suggest we don't wait and drive on ahead." He bowed his head to kiss Katerina and whispered in her ear: "And may I add, you look absolutely gorgeous, my darling." He looked up again, winked at her and walked over to Nadia to offer her his arm. "May I escort you downstairs, Nadia?"

Nadia reached for her own silver mask and accepted his offer tentatively. "You may." She knew she would never be best buddies with Elijah; neither seemed he be the type to it, nor did she long for his friendship. But he was important to her mother, so somehow she had to get along with him if she didn't want to lose her. Katerina followed the two of them with a genuine smile on her lips, her own mask, which was just a negative to Elijah's, in hand.

The drive to the mayor's house was not long, but silent. Reaching their destination, Elijah got out, opened the door and helped Katerina and Nadia out of the car. "Let me help with your mask", he mumbled and took it from Katerina's hands before stepping behind her. His touch was light when he tied the ribbons into a knot at the back of her head. Then he offered both women his arms. "Shall we?"

Together they climbed the stairs to the mansion and were welcomed by the Mayor himself, wearing a white mask. "Elijah Mikaelson", he said tethered, fear pouring from every pore. "I see you received my invitation. And who are your lovely ladies, if I may ask?"

"Katherine Pierce", Katerina introduced herself with a sweet smile, while the Mayor took her hand and trembling kissed the back of it. "I'm an old friend of the Mikaelson family. And this is a close friend of mine, Nadia."

"I am honoured to meet the both of you." The Mayor bowed nearly unnoticeable. "Please. Be welcomed."

From inside music was playing and some people were already dancing. Laughter could be heard now and then and people were especially chatting near the rich buffet. Candles were the main sources of light and flowers occupied every free surface. Liveried waiters were weaving through the crowd, wearing slim red masks of their own.

"I'll get us something to drink", Nadia offered and wrested herself from Elijah's arm, only to dive into the crowd.

Elijah sighed. "She still does not particular like me, does she?"

Katerina rolled her eyes and instead of giving him an answer, she took his hand and pulled him to the dancing people. "I'm not here to indulge in boring small talks with people I don't care about. It's been ages since we last danced."

"I fear you won't be able to escape those boring conversations for ever, but there is no shame in delaying the inevitable." Elijah took her left hand in his right and laid his own left one gently on her waist. "But I will save my breath and not tell you that you should be careful what you're saying. Most of those only look out for a weak spot they can use against you."

"I've played this game before", Katerina assured him and shrugged her shoulders. "England, France, Russia, America… the rules are the same all over the world. Might be this is the first fun I'll have since Atlanta."

Elijah arched one eyebrow. "Are you going to tell me that your time in Mystic Falls bored you? According to the complaints you should have had a lot of fun."

"Please. Those kids are whiny and Damon and Stefan were just pissed that I posed as Elena. Which, admittedly, was kind of fun." Katerina fluttered her eyelids innocently and let Elijah lead her through the dance. It was a simple waltz, nothing the two of them couldn't perform straight away, but Katerina liked the feeling of giving up the leading role once. They may danced a little bit closer than the waltz recommended, but neither of them objected.

The song ended and it was rather reluctantly that Elijah led her back from the dance floor. Nadia waited near a wall, sipping at a straight vodka now and then and talking with a middle-aged man.

"Ah, Mr. Mikaelson. Will your brother be joining us this evening as well?", the man asked with a polite, but reserved smile.

Elijah returned the same smile. "He intended to, but Niklaus never honoured punctuality. Father Kieran, may I introduce to you Katherine Pierce?"

"A new supporter of your fraction, I assume?"

"A new supporter of the town's peace", Katerina corrected. "But yes, vampires have a special place in my heart. Although some would argue I don't have one anyway." She smiled at Father Kieran after winking at Elijah. "Why don't you and I have a little chat? I am sure we want to achieve the same things and maybe you and I could help each other." She linked her arm with his and led him in the direction of the buffet.

And so Elijah and Nadia were left alone. Elijah cleared his throat and hesitated a moment, before he asked: "Do you like to dance, Nadia?"

"I'm not a very good dancer. I never learned it properly. At least not Standard. Never had time for it while I looked for mother. I'm much better with firearms", Nadia explained and shrugged her shoulders.

"I could show you, if you would like to. Most dances are not too complicated and I doubt we would make ourselves friends if you would pull out your gun. That is if you had one with you." At least Elijah hoped she didn't have one with her. He honestly doubted her dress would leave room for a firearm but he really didn't want to find out whether he was wrong.

Nadia was quiet for a few more moments, then she downed her drink and put the glass on the free surface between a delicate flower vase and a bunch of candles. "Fine. Why not?" She took the Hand Elijah offered her and followed him to a quieter corner.

"Alright. Put your right hand on my shoulder. Straight back. And hold your chin up. We will start slow. It does not have to be a Viennese waltz from the start. You just follow my movements. And breath. I do not intend to hurt you", Elijah added with a smile. His steps were slow and he sensed Nadia's tenderness and reluctance to let him lead her. "Dancing does not work without at least a small amount of trust. One can move without out, but real dancing… I understand that you had to be hard in order to survive. I have seen this before, you resemble your mother more than you may think. But right now you can let your guard down. Only for a few minutes."

"Every time a man tells me to let my guard down, I want to reach for my gun", Nadia muttered but tried to relax.

Elijah looked at her closely for a moment. "You do not give away your trust easily, do you?"

"No. Never have. The only man in my life who never hurt me was my father. And even he couldn't protect me from the monsters under the bed."

Pity shone in Elijah's eyes. "If you want to talk about-"

"I think have a problem", Katerina interrupted the two of them, a little bit out of breath. "Your mother is here. She approached me like we were old friends, wanted to know how long I had you wrapped around my finger and that kind of stuff. I told her to fuck off and she gave me this." She handed Elijah a piece of domino paper.

He looked at it with a frown. "She is inviting us to dinner? What does that mean?"

"I don't know. But I do know that I don't trust her. And neither should you."

"What about me? If she knows I'm your daughter…", Nadia trailed off.

Katerina gulped. "She knows. And she wants you to be there, too. That's not good, Elijah."

He nodded grimly. "No. It's not."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N Dear readers, I know it has been an awful long time since the last update and I can only offer you my sincerest apologies. I had quite a rough time but as you see, I haven't forgotten you. Plus, it's a rather large chapter, so I hope I could make it up to you. I hope you enjoy it and please let me know if you have anything to say; be it criticism, praise or some ideas ;)**

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"I will only say it one more time, Nadia, you're not coming with us. End of story!" Katerina blocked the front door with her body with her hands on her hips. Her eyes were grimly fixated her daughter who stood opposite of her in the same position.

"Oh no, it's not! If you're going, I'm going, too. That witch seems to be mental and eve if you're willing to risk your life, I'm not."

"I'm not going to meet her alone. Elijah's there, even Klaus and Rebekah, although the latter two won't be much of a help, I have to admit. Still, there's no need to blow your cover yet. As you said, Esther is mental."

"I don't need your protection. Compared to certain other persons in this room, I'm a vampire. I can take care of myself."

"Then why the hell are you acting like a spoiled child?"

Klaus stepped closer to Elijah and cleared his throat. "As much as I would enjoy a good old bitch fight, but shouldn't we intervene? I just had the walls painted and blood is so hardly covered white."

"Do you really want to step between the two of them?", Elijah asked with a raised eye brow. "I can barely handle one Petrova alone."

"Even I can he your, dumbasses", Katerina yelled and glared at Elijah. "Tell her there is no need to come with us and that I will be perfectly safe with you."

"No! Tell her she can need any protection she can get. Esther wanted me to come, maybe she'll be pissed when I don't and then Katerina has to suffer it."

"Oh, don't worry, love", Klaus chimed in with a big grin. "Mother will be pissed either way. We killed her and tried to do so multiple times after she came back and made our live a living hell. Again. You're not the only one with a hot tempered mother."

Elijah loudly cleared his throat. "You're not helping, Niklaus."

"Not? Well, then I'll go looking if our darling sister is done smearing lots and lots of make-up onto her face and you solve this here. Have fun."

Elijah sighed and stepped between the mother-daughter-duo. "Look, Katerina", he began seriously. "My mother is dangerous and as long as I don't know what this whole dinner is about, I would like to have as many allies as possible there. Nadia is strong and she can fight. I won't be able to have my eyes on you the whole time." He then turned to Nadia. "I assume you have a gun with you, don't you?"

"One gun?" Nadia smiled dangerously. "One gun, three throwing knives and an additional mag. Trust me, concerning weapons I'm covered. I would give her one thing or another, but I bet she can't handle it."

"Hey, I once saved Matty Blue-Blue's ass with a shotgun, alright? I'm not a complete noob."

"Right. What about a deal? Nadia is allowed to come along and starting tomorrow she shows you how to handle a gun and all this stuff so you can defend yourself while you're still human. What do you say?"

Katerina stayed quiet a long while and alternately glared at her daughter and her lover. "You're not getting laid anytime soon", she finally threatened Elijah before turning to Nadia. "And you… If you're doing anything stupid this evening, I'll kill you myself. Got it? You won't provoke or put yourself in unnecessary danger."

"Fine!"

Elijah breathed a sigh of relief. Could this evening become any worse? He hoped that it couldn't. It would be difficult enough to keep his siblings in check and he was nervous about Katerina coming along. It was too dangerous for her but of course she wouldn't listen to him. She seldom did. So yes, he was glad Nadia would be there, too. He was almost one hundred percent sure, that Nadia wouldn't let herself get distracted and instead keep her eyes all the time at Katerina.

"You're done fighting? Great", Klaus commented while towing Rebekah to the front door and then further towards the car, so his sister and Katerina didn't have a chance to claw each other's eyes out. Not that he feared Rebekah could lose, but he knew Elijah would never forgive him if at least he didn't try to prevent a fight. Klaus did have a much easier when Katerina still had been in Mystic Falls.

It only was a short drive to the address given on the invitation card, but all of the passengers were keyed up. Elijah got out, opened the back door and helped Katerina and Nadia out of the car. His hand rested at the small of Katerina's back while they walked to the front door.

A dark haired, middle-aged woman opened before they even knocked. "You made it. All of you. That's good. Hayley thinks I prepared so rich a meal to feed a whole army. Now, come on in." With a warm smile on her lips she stepped aside, making room for them to enter the house.

Elijah and Klaus exchanged a glance, but then followed their mother along with the others into the dining room, where a very pregnant Hayley put the last plates in the table.

Esther sighed and put her hands on her hips. "I told you to sit down and stay quiet, didn't I?"

"I'm pregnant, not sick", Hayley answered and rolled her eyes, but a thankful smile played on her lips.

Katerina glared at her. "What is she doing here?"

"Why, this is a family dinner. Hayley here is carrying my grandchild and after Elijah left she came to me to protect her from the witches. Really, my son, I would never have thought you one to break your word on a lady. I'm very disappointed, Elijah."

"You gotta be kidding me, right?" Katerina snorted and crossed her arms in front of her chest, then turned to Klaus. "When I told you what was going on, I expected you for once to be a man. Couldn't you just lock her up somewhere until she pressed out your bastard?"

"Hey, you're the one who was trying to kill me!" Hayley glared at Katerina, one hand protectively over her swollen belly. "If it wasn't for you, Elijah wouldn't have left me with the witches."

"Oh, sorry sweetheart, was life mean to you? Poor thing." Venom dropped almost visibly from her lips and Katerina was close to going at her; it was only Nadia's hand on her shoulder that held her back.

Elijah sighed. "I already told you multiple times, Hayley, that I left New Orleans because I had a promise to keep. And you were save. Niklaus-"

"Well, well, my dears, I won't have any of this at my table. You will manage to get along for this dinner or there won't be any dessert for any of you." Esther glared at her visitors in turn, hands firmly put on her sides.

Hayley smiled sweetly at Katerina. "Oh, I wouldn't worry, Esther. Since Katherine is human again she could do with a little less sugar."

Now Katerina really tried to launch herself at the werewolf, but was held back by Elijah and Nadia. Even Klaus deliberately blocked her path as he grasped Hayley at her shoulders and gave her a painful squeeze. "You might carry my child, but beware. This fact does not make you invincible. My loyalties also lie with my siblings and since Katerina to my utter annoyance seems to belong with my brother, she deserves at least part protection. Do you understand, love?"

Hayley nodded hastily and countered Katerina's glare with even loathing. The moment Klaus released her, she turned around and vanished into the kitchen. Klaus groaningly met the floor one heartbeat later.

"That wasn't necessary, Niklaus", Esther chided, while her gaze seemed to pin her son to the floor. "Hayley is a decent girl. It's bad enough that you are unwilling to take care of her but threatening her? That's not the way I raised you."

"Let him go!" Rebekah's sorrow pitched her voice up. Elijah readied himself to distract his mother but Esther was faster. Soon he joined Klaus on the ground.

"You are not here because I want to punish you", Esther said with a calm voice, her focus lying mostly on her sons. "But if you are unable to behave under my roof, I will punish you. So, can you sit down at this table and behave like the men you are or can you not?"

"Fine", Klaus barked.

Esther turned around and the magic vanished with her focus on the brothers. Katerina, who had been held back by Nadia, now rushed to Elijah and seized his arm to hold him steady while he stood up. "Are you hurt?", he asked her quietly and shook his head to cast out the pain that had dominated his skull before.

"No. You okay?" Concern laid under the surface of her voice but her eyes promised bloody murder. She would like nothing better than to rip that woman' heart out. Elijah only nodded, his gaze wandered to Esther and Hayley in the kitchen. Everything in him screamed to get Katerina out of this house and as far away as possible but he honestly did not know how his mother would react.

"We will go as soon as possible. We need Marcel to sign a truce if he refuses to join forces." His voice was low so that even the vampires could barely hear him.

Katerina nodded. "I'll take care of him. He owes me one."

Elijah laid his arm protectively around her shoulders and let the way to the dining table, where he pulled out a chair first for Katerina then for Nadia, so Katerina was sitting between the two of them. Rebekah briefly pulled a face while looking at Nadia and then choose the chair next to Elijah. Niklaus rolled his eyes, joined Nadia and ended next to Hayley. Esther brought a plate of steaks to the table and took the remaining seat. "Please, help yourselves. I hope you like it. It's been a while for me to prepare a dinner for such a group. And no, the food is not poisoned."

"Then why are we here if you don't plan on killing us?", Niklaus asked, completely ignoring the food. "The last time you wanted to reunite our family, you did exactly that."

"Are you sure you want to talk business before trying the sauce? I remember you to be a better eater." Esther frowned.

"Tell us, mother!" Rebekah sat very still, hands folded in her lap. Anxiety flickered in her eyes; one reason more she chose the place next to her eldest living brother.

Esther sighed, but nodded eventually. "Very well. I asked you to come because before everything else, I am still your mother and I want you to be happy. As you see, I abandoned my former body and chose to live in the one of this witch. Not only took I over her body but also her abilities."

"Yeah, so much I noticed", muttered Niklaus under his breath but loud enough so everyone could hear him.

Esther ignored him. "I would like to offer you the same. To leave behind your vampire bodies and live a mortal live in the body you would chose. Elijah, I learned that you saved dear Katerina here-"

"For you, it's Katherine", Katerina interrupted. "And I'm not your dear. Since I am already in this goddamn human body and I would rather be dealing with all my enemies at the same time than dining with you, why am I here? There is nothing you could offer me."

"Well, Katherine", Esther emphasized her anglicised name, "I guess we can agree on the fact, that a mother should always protect and her for her child, don't we? We don't abandon our children to follow our own selfish goals, no matter what."

"I did not abandon her! If you-"

"Katherine, you have to learn that not everything is appointed to you." Esther's gaze flickered to Nadia, but quickly returned to Katerina. "As I side, I learned that my son saved your live and is unwilling to leave your side. I would offer your daughter the same deal. She gives up her immortal body and can live on in a human one. A long, human live with her mother. Buying a house. Founding a family. Wouldn't you wish your daughter such a life as I am wishing it for my children?"

"Why don't you ask the daughter herself?" Nadia's gaze was furious. "I'm not a vampire because it was my only chance to survive but so I could find my mother. To protect her. This I can only do as a vampire. So no, thank you, bitch. I don't need your so-called gift."

"Never thought I would say that, but I agree with the younger Petrova. Exchanging being a hybrid for being a weak human or a witch? Hell, no. I have a city to rule. And even if I don't care about Hayley – who is a werewolf by the way – I do care about my unborn heir. What would happen to him if Hayley chose to live in another body?"

"The child would die. But of course you could father another child in a human body. So-"

Hayley cleared her throat. "I would wait until I gave birth. If I choose to live in another body. I have it under control turning into a werewolf, so I don't know yet."

"It is only an offer, my dear", Esther said with a warm smile. "I wouldn't dare to force you."

"No, of course not." Elijah's look was pure coldness. "As if you would not force your own children, right? We lived for over a thousand years as vampires. Do you not think we accustomed to this lifestyle over the time? Rebekah wanted to take the cure, I give you that, and I won't restrain her from accepting your ever so generous offer. But for my share, I have to decline. As Niklaus already pointed out, there are some benefits of being a vampire. Though I would like nothing more to start a family with Katerina, I know that she wants to be a vampire again. So why should I give up my immortality?"

"Love does make blind, doesn't it?" The warmth in Ester's face vanished and turned to hatred as she faced Katerina. "As much as I would love to see you happy, but if you don't choose life, you choose death, my son. I thought it wouldn't be necessary to convince you, but I won't underestimate you again."

Katerina flinched as Nadia groaned suddenly and held her head, sinking on the table. "Make it stop", she whimpered, tears threating to steal themselves from her squinted eyes. It only took Elijah and Niklaus the fraction of a second longer, to launch themselves at their mother, but both were brought down. "I wouldn't do that, brothers." A huge man stepped in the room, the black hair cropped short, and held his hands out.

"Who are you?" Nklaus groaned from the floor, not able to push Rebekah aside who was hovering over him.

The man sadly shook his head. "Well, I can't expect you to recognize the one you kept in a box for nine hundred years."

"In his defence, let it be said that you are a pain in the ass, Finn", Elijah answered and fought against the power that threatened to split his skull apart. "Turning against your family? Fatal decision, brother." The last word he said with so much loathing, that even Katerina blinked in surprise.

The former vampire left her place at Nadia's side, simply ignored Elijah's attempts to stop her and strutted towards Esther. "You will let them go right now or so help me God, I will make your life a hell. Trust me, you wouldn't be the first witch I'd let burn at a stake. And just in case you are going to underestimate me, let me tell you this: I don't need to be a vampire to do so. So call off your lapdog and let us go. Now."

Katerina already wanted to turn around, but Esther approached her and held her wrist in a firm grip. Then she leaned forwards to whisper in Katerina's ear: "Don't worry, Katherine. You and I are not as different as you think we are. We both get what we want, but I fear this time you won't stand a chance. I won't let my children live a life as monsters. If you are the one to stand in my way, you will regret it. And don't you think I wouldn't have a leverage I could use against you. Your daughter is more fragile than you think. This pain she had to go through… it left scars. Scars deep enough to break open at every reminder of what happened. Would you really dare to trade your daughter's sanity for a love that's doomed to end? Five hundred years are a long time for feelings to change. Do you think it a coincidence, that Elijah fell for Hayley, promised her to protect her? He's a family man, but you hold him back. As long as there is you, he won't choose a human life. So if I have to destroy you first, I will do so. It's your choice."

Katerina snorted and answered her just as quietly. "If you think you could stand between Elijah and me or my daughter and me, you're making a grave mistake."

"If you say so, darling." Esther smiled sweetly and nodded towards Finn who reluctantly released his brothers. Niklaus pushed Rebekah unwillingly aside as she tried to help him and glared at his mother. "You are free to leave, my children. But never fear, I will contact you when I found the right vessels for you." Then she simply turned around.

Katerina tremblingly breathed out, then turned around. Elijah already stood again and looked at her with concern in his eyes, but she ignored him and rushed towards Nadia, who only slowly recovered. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead and her gaze flickered through the room like the one of a hunted deer. "Nadia?" Katerina's voice was soft and her touch careful just as to not scare her further. "We're getting out of here. Come on, I'll bring you home."

Nadia shakenly stood up and let Katerina take her hand to lead her out. She flinched when Elijah laid her his jacket around the shoulders and walked on her other side.

"Niklaus?", he called over his shoulder. "Are you coming?"

"I think I'm gonna stay a while longer, brother", Niklaus answered without taking his gaze from Finn, who still calmly stood in the doorframe, shielding the way Esther and Hayley had gone. "Take Rebekah with you."

"I'm old enough to step up for myself, Nik. If you think you need to pro-"

"Stuff it, Rebekah, and move your bottom out of this house. Now."

The blonde vampire huffed, but followed the older brother, Katerina and Nadia outside. Without talking about it, Elijah and Rebekah took seat in the front, while Katerina joined her daughter on the rear bench seat, holding her tight.

"What did she tell you, Katerina?", Elijah asked, his voice strained but he forced it to sound at least partly calm, as if not to startle Nadia. "Our mother normally is not a woman to give up easily."

"It was nothing. Or nothing important, anyway", Katerina replied in a tone that made clear she wouldn't say another word concerning this topic. Elijah knew her too well to press her further and instead speeded down the street towards the mansion. Nadia slowly gained her composure back, but she still was unusually quiet. Katerina tried not to let her worries show through.

When they finally reached the mansion, she brought her daughter to an unoccupied room on the same level as Elijah's apartment and forced her to sit on the bed. "Can I bring you something? Anything?", she asked and took Elijah's jacket from her shoulders.

Nadia shook her head. "No, I just… I'm just gonna need some time. I'm fine, really. It just was quiet messed up in there."

"That's the Mikaelson-way of family", Katerina quipped, but then she frowned. "If you want me to stay, you only have to ask. Just in case you wanna talk or something."

"I know, but not right now. Thanks anyway."

"You're always welcome. If you need something, I'm just two doors away. Just call, alright?" Katerina gently kissed her on the forehead and tucked her in as Nadia laid back. She softly closed the door behind her and leaned against the wood for a moment, her eyes closed.

"Is Nadia alright?", Elijah asked quietly, gently cupping her cheek.

Katerina sighed. "No. But she won't tell me. She says a little sleep will help her, but I don't know. I don't know what Esther had let her see and I don't know what happened to her in the past five hundred years. So how can I help her?"

"You can help her by being there for you when she asks you to", Elijah responded and pulled her into an embrace. "Your daughter is a strong woman. Whatever she saw earlier, she will go through it. But you do not look all too confident, either."

Katerina waved his concerns tiredly aside. "Esther thought she could blackmail me. Something about standing between you and your happiness and that it's me to bar you from humanity. That kind of bullshit."

Elijah was quiet for a while, then he let go of Katerina to took her hand and lead her to their own rooms. "You know… in one millennia there are times when you think about being human again. Rebekah had those times, one only recently. I had those, too. If you'd choose to stay human, I would probably join you. She was right, you know? About wanting to start a family."

Katerina let go of his hand and looked at him with a mixture of disbelief, sadness and hurt. Then she quickly locked her feelings behind her Katherine-façade. "Then she was right."

"No." Elijah shook his head, one hand on the doorknob. "Katerina, if I can have an eternity with you, I will be the happiest man that ever lived. Of course I would love to hold a little girl with your eyes and give her the world, but if that should not be our path, then so shall it be. You already have a daughter and although I know that I cannot replace her father, I hope that she will accept me as someone like her stepfather. Really, Katerina, starting a family of my own is not on the top list of my concerns."

Katerina didn't seem persuaded, but followed Elijah into their apartment anyway.

Elijah silently opened the door and was greeted with a look out of brown eyes. "I am sorry. I did not want to disturb you. Katerina is still sleeping and I wanted to check on you. I will just-"

"No! I mean… you can stay if you like." Nadia sat propped up against the cushions, her legs pulled up against her chest and her fragile frame covered by a thick blanket.

Elijah sat down at the edge of the bed, his face turned towards the younger vampire. "My father was an aggressive man, especially towards Niklaus. One day he beat him bloody and I intervened. I could not have been older than nine or ten. Father was so outraged that he beat me instead of my brother. Although one thousand years have passed since then, I still dream about this day, waking up in cold sweat. Some memories quite never let us go."

Nadia remained silent for a few moments. "Mother once asked me about her grandchild. I couldn't answer. Not because she died very young or something like that, but because I never saw her again after birth. I gave her away immediately and went to get myself turned into a vampire. I couldn't stand looking at her."

"What happened?" Elijah's voice was soft, concerned. Not necessarily the voice of a father figure, but at least the one of a friend. He didn't talk with her because he needed to gain her trust; he was honestly worried. Not even for Katerina's sake and because Nadia was her daughter, but because he wanted to ease the pain of the younger vampire.

"My stepmother hated me from the very first day. Father on the other hand was more understanding; I think he spoiled me to make it up to mother. That he lied to her and left her. One day I asked him to choose my husband for myself. Out of love. He agreed. I turned twenty and still wasn't married, but my stepmother wanted me gone. She gave my hand to a man of the village we were currently living in. My father was out of town, he didn't know. My wedding night was… terrible. Neither was he kind nor careful. I remember crying myself to sleep. Father found out when he returned the next morning and brought me home, but the damage was done: weeks later I noticed I was pregnant."

"I understand", Elijah said quietly. "I am sorry. And I do not know how my mother knows about this part of your history, but she will pay for this. I promise you. Sure, she is not responsible for what happened to you, but there is no necessity for her to let you relive this episode over and over."

"You… Don't tell mother", Nadia pleaded. "She already blames herself for not having fought enough for me back then. This she doesn't have to know."

"No. Not until you choose to tell her", Elijah nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, your secret will be safe with me. Would you like a blood bag? I could bring you one."

"Please. Thanks for listening."

"You're welcome", Elijah answered with a smile.

* * *

 **Well, what do you think? I just fet like it needed the family feels at the end of this chapter after everything that happened.**


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